About us

The picture depicts the panel which led to the creation of the WCTC during the 1st World Trauma Congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August 2012.

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From left to right:  Sizenando Starling MD (SBAIT), Rao Ivatury MD (PTS), Yasuhiro Otomo MD (JSACS), Yoran Klein MD (ITS), Selman Uranus MD (IATSIC), Anthony Josephy MD (ATS), Michael Rotondo MD (ACS-COT), L.D. Britt MD (AAST), Pol Rommens MD (ESTES). Session was moderated by Drs. Ronald Maier MD and Raul Coimbra MD (not shown).

The goals of the World Coalition for Trauma Care, as defined by the group are:​
 

1. To increase awareness of the importance of trauma as a disease worldwide
2. Trauma Education at all levels worldwide
3. Development of trauma systems worldwide
4. Continuation of the World Trauma Congress

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We can only accomplish those goals at a global level if we stay together as a group of people and powerful professional organizations and start implementing change worldwide. Our organizations (and their members) have the opportunity to exert international influence, help less developed nations to improve care by means of better education and knowledge, critical thinking towards systems development, data collection (trauma registries and injury surveillance), and implementation of quality improvement processes.



A number of steps (some small, some big) have been taken since the meeting in Rio. Below is a brief update of the activities of the WCTC:



1. The website is active
    

2. The American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS-COT), under the leadership of Mike Rotondo (COT Chair), has created a subcommittee named International Injury Care Committee, which is completely aligned with the goals of the WCTC. The newly formed committee is working on the development of the International Trauma Data Bank (ITDB), which could potentially become the world trauma data repository for benchmarking purposes. This is a very powerful tool and a great opportunity for institutions, systems, cities, states, countries or regions collecting trauma related data. The intent is that the participation in ITDB is free of cost to low income countries and it may carry a nominal fee for middle-income countries. More to come on the ITDB soon.
    

3. In addition, the ACS-COT will disseminate the TEAM course to low-income countries, starting in Sub-Saharan African Medical Schools free of charge, as an initial step in promoting trauma education related to the initial care of the injured victim.
    

4. The WHO created two subcommittees, in preparation for the launch of the Global Alliance for the Care of the Injured (22nd of May from 12:45 to 14:15, at the Palais des Nations in Room XXIV, Geneva, Switzerland). One of the subcommittees is focusing on Trauma Systems and the other is addressing the issue of trauma registries and minimum data sets. I am the chairman of the trauma data committee and pretty soon we should have a final product of that committee providing guidance regarding data collections for outcomes research, quality improvement, injury surveillance and benchmarking.
    

5. Exciting news come from the ESTES leadership group. The board of directors of ESTES: Prof. Drs. Korhan Taviloglu (President), Ingo Marzi (Past-President), Luke Leenen (President-Elect), Ari Leppaniemi (Vice-President), Pol M. Rommens (General Secretary), and Eric Voiglio (Treasurer), voted unanimously to host the 2nd World Trauma Congress with the 15th European Congress of Trauma & Emergency Surgery in Frankfurt, May 24-27, 2014. You may find a “Save the Date” under "initiatives" in our website. The president of the 2nd WTC will be Prof. Dr. Ingo Marzi. Please mark your calendars and make sure that wherever you go you tell people about this exciting meeting. We want to make it as successful as the first WTC. A first planning meeting will take place in Lyon, France during the 14th European Congress of Trauma and Emergency Surgery on May 4-7. Please check the ESTES website www.estesonline.org. I would encourage you all to attend this great meeting in Lyon as well. 
    

6. Discussions are ongoing with Prof. Misra from India, and it seems that there is a great chance that the 3rd WTC will be held in New Delhi in 2016.
    

7. A “White Paper” reporting on the accomplishments of the WTC and the creation of the WCTC is being finalized and I will distribute it electronically to all members of the WCTC.



Raul Coimbra