Symposium on Trauma Care Held in San Antonio

Texas Public Radio - August 31, 2009

Medical professionals from all over the country gathered in San Antonio on Monday to share and discuss the latest innovations in trauma medicine. Texas Public Radio’s Terry Gildea has the story.

August 31, 2009 ·Trauma is the leading cause of death for Americans under 44. More than 170,000 people die each year from trauma related injuries including car accidents, assaults and natural disasters. Those who try to save trauma victims are gathering in San Antonio for the National Trauma Institute’s annual symposium. Dr. Ronald Stewart is the board chair of the National Trauma Institute.

“The conference is going to focus on mass casualty innovations, so we’re going to talk about things that have been learned from Iraq and Afghanistan. Really not just the theater, but worldwide about dealing with multiple casualties at the same time.”

Sharon Smith directs NTI headquartered in San Antonio. She says the ideas exchanged at the conference about critical care on the battlefield and in domestic hospitals help motivate research studies to happen faster.

“The people who are giving care to our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and are learning things on the job everyday there have the opportunity to tell civilian trauma providers what they’re learning. So this information is infiltrating the country much quicker than if you were waiting for articles to be written and to be published and them to be read,” said Smith.

While half of the conference will focus on how to deal with mass casualty situations, other sessions will discuss innovations in treating burns, traumatic brain injury and eye injuries. Dr. Stewart hopes the presentations will result in funding for more clinical studies.

“It is a good incubator for ideas, and it also is an ideal forum to translate new things into clinical practice,” said Dr. Stewart.