The treatment of trauma patients in the admitting area is performed under stress and requires team work. The goals of this research were to develop and analyse the implementation process of videotaping trauma care. The Rambam Medical Center is a 900-bed referral teaching hospital. It serves a population of more than 1.5 million in northern Israel. The trauma unit has focused on various activities to increase the quality of trauma care over the past few years. We installed a video camera and taped the treatment as part of a programme for the quality improvement of trauma care. Reviewing the tapes was carried out by the trauma team under guidance in order to identify deviation from treatment protocols, errors in techniques, improper usage of time, equipment failure and problems in team work. After 3 years' experience, we found that videotaping is an accurate and inexpensive way of achieving quality control in the admitting area. It now serves as a regular method in Israeli trauma centres and we encourage others to try this method.