Scoop and run (Scoop and shoot) is a colloquialism for the practice of immediately transporting ill or injured medical patients to a medical facility. Also known as, GTHTTH (Get The Hell To The Hospital), an acronym used by some Emergency Medical personnel to prevent alarming the patient.

This phrase comes into use most commonly for the very seriously injured, such as at a violent automobile collision, when it becomes obvious to the first responders that the person may die without immediate treatment at an advanced facility. The responders may then “scoop up the body and run” to the ambulance and then on to the hospital, ignoring relatively minor injuries. The implication is that palliative or first aid treatment in the field will do little or no good for the patient, and that any delay in arriving at the hospital will be severely detrimental.

In general, it is common practice in the United States to transport patients to a medical facility as soon as possible, meaning as soon as it is safe to do so.

Alternative practice is to treat as many ailments as possible in the field (stay and play), or as many as possible when the stability of the patient is more critical than the delay (play and run). See Prehospital care strategies.

Today, emergency medical technicians are trained to make a transport decision early in patient care, whether to “load and go” or “stay and play,” based on the severity of the patient’s condition.

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