History of the The Panamerican Trauma Society
SPT was officially founded in Bogota 1986. Earlier, Dr. Armando Baqueiro’s had the idea to create a society which the main objective was to improve the management of trauma patients among Latin American countries. Dr. Baqueiro working along with Dr. Alejandro Grife, Garcia Morales "El Max," Gomez Palacio, Carlos Moreno, and Aurelio Rodriguez, set up the structure of the organization and the idea became a reality and the Panamerican Trauma Society (PTS) was born in 1987. The first officers and members met during the Annual Congress of the Federation of Latin American Surgical Societies (FELAC) and at that time Dr. Aurelio Rodriguez was appointed as president and Ricardo Sonneborn, vice-president.
The PTS’ first Annual Congress was in San Juan,Puerto Rico in 1988. Since that time, the Society has matured a great deal and the PTS has grown steadily with the participation of surgeons, emergency physicians, intensivists, nurses, and paramedics. The SPT Annual Congresses have gained an international reputation with the participation of leading health professional in Trauma and Critical Care from around the world.
Since 2003 the SPT headquarters office was based at UPMC in Pittsburg, PA under the leadership of Dr. Andrew Peitzman and Dr. Juan Carlos Puyana. On November 12, 2010 The SPT headquarters office was transitioned from Pittsburgh, PA to Richmond, VA. The organization is hosted by VCU’s Division of Trauma, Critical Care and Emergency Surgery, Department of Surgery, Dr. Rao Ivatury and Dr. Michel Aboutanos.
The Panamerican Trauma Society Journal; is published biannually and it has been an important vehicle to present several unique and important researchers from several countries of the Americas. The editorial board includes leaders in Trauma and Critical Care of North, Central, and South Americas. In November 2010, Dr. Rao Ivatury was elected as Editor-in-Chief of the PTS Journal of Trauma.
The PTS leadership is committed to continue to work with several committees which will be in charge to develop guidelines for a comprehensive management of the trauma patient in different regions and countries. The committees will also serve as important tool to facilitate the exchange of ideas and communication among members.
The Society will continue to serve as a "parent" organization as well as to support local societies to the care and management of trauma patients in several countries including Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Bolivia, Peru and Argentina.
We invite you to join us in this exciting multi-cultural society.
We are certain that the Panamerican Trauma Society
will be one of the premier societies in the world dedicated
to the improvement and care of the trauma patient.
