In the advanced nations trauma represents the third cause of death after 
cardiovascular diseases and tumours. Recently, great importance has been given 
to the need to treat traumas as quickly as possible in order to reduce mortality 
and morbidity. Prompt management of is the gold standard in the emergency 
setting and the phrase "golden hour" is now commonly used. The authors report on 
their experience with the management of multiple trauma, through the study of 
617 clinical cases. Patients were evaluated with the Revised Trauma Score (RTS), 
Injury Severity Score (ISS) and Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS). Of 420 (68%) 
cases of major trauma only one patient had ISS > 60. Patients were admitted on 
average after 47 +/- 18 min. Only two deaths occurred in the emergency unit. The 
task of the emergency unit is to stabilise the patients, anticipate the 
complications, including mainly shock and multiple organ failure, optimizing 
time, interventions and resources to reduce morbidity and mortality.