Welcome to Update No 6! This edition deals with a common problem facing anaesthetists all over the world - Major Trauma. Patients who are injured need immediate, expert assessment to detect and treat life threatening injuries. Basic care given early following trauma may be life saving as many patients die within the first hour from complications of their injuries such as hypoxia and hypotension.

How to rapidly assess and treat victims of major trauma is discussed in detail in this edition. Although there are differences in facilities from one centre to another much can be achieved by careful attention to a detailed clinical examination and then treatment with the facilities available. In the editors' experience many patients die from hypovolaemia following trauma, in many circumstances this is avoidable.

Many thanks to those who have answered the questionnaire contained in Update 5. We are unable to reply to everyone individually but will attempt to summarise the findings in a future issue of the journal. We would be grateful for as many people as possible to reply to the questionnaire published in the last edition. We are always delighted to receive other letters or suggestions about the journal and will publish a selection if they are likely to appeal to the readership.

Dr Iain Wilson
Dr Roger Eltringham

---

©World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists WWW implementation by the NDA Web Team, Oxford

---