OBJECTIVES: Describe the epidemiology and the survival of patients with traumatic cardiac arrest (CA), and compare them to those with nontraumatic CA. Highlight the weaknesses in their care and consider ways to improve their survival. METHOD: Traumatic and nontraumatic CA are described using the Utstein style in the "réseau nord-alpin des urgences" registry. Regarding the traumatic CA, we focus on circumstances, types of injuries and specific resuscitation techniques used. RESULTS: From 1st January 2004 to 31st December 2005, prehospital medical teams provided care to 1552 victims of CA, 129 of whom were trauma patients (8.3%). Average age was 47.1 years; 74.4% were males. Blunt trauma occurred in 94.6%. None of the patients had chest tube insertion or thoracotomy on the scene. A return of spontaneous circulation was observed in 24.8%, the survival after 24h was of 3.9%, and 0.8% of patients remained alive 1 year following the accident. The topography of lesions responsible for the CA as well as the fact that these lesions are limited or multiorgan influence the survival. CONCLUSION: The survival of patients with prehospital traumatic CA is catastrophic and it is worse than that of patients with nontraumatic CA. However, a specific earlier and more adapted prehospital resuscitation could help improve this survival.