Noninvasive hemodynamic monitoring in the initial resuscitation of trauma patients beginning in the emergency department was used (1) to describe early survivor and nonsurvivor patterns in terms of cardiac, pulmonary, and tissue perfusion deficiencies; (2) to measure quantitatively the net cumulative amount of deficit or excess of the monitored functions that correlate with survival or death; (3) to mathematically describe circulatory dysfunction and shock by discriminant analysis and stochastic (probability) analysis to predict outcome; and (4) to explore the use of a decision support program to evaluate the relative effectiveness of various therapies given to patients in very similar states taken from a large database. Noninvasive monitoring systems were used because they provided continuously monitored on-line displays of data in the early post-admission period from the emergency department to the operating room, and then to the intensive care unit for early recognition of circulatory dysfunction in acute emergency conditions. Survival was predicted by discriminant analysis and stochastic models based on quantitative assessment of the net cumulative deficits of cardiac index, arterial hypoxemia, and tissue perfusion, which were significantly greater in the nonsurvivors.