The PTS is a professional organization for all healthcare providers interested in improving outcomes for injured children through development of optimal care guidelines, education, research and advocacy. PTS is the product of the collaborative vision of many pediatric trauma healthcare providers from around the world. Filling a void, PTS is working toward becoming the resource for both pediatric and adult trauma care providers to improve pediatric trauma care regardless of where injured children are cared for.
SAVE THE DATE
On this Veterans Day, please do what you can to save the lives of our soldiers who put theirs at risk. Dr Jenkins is a true American hero who revolutionized the care of our soldiers abroad and at home. pic.twitter.com/kyiKRzLbRd
The Pediatric Trauma Society and its more than 1,000 members are professionals from all walks of the healthcare spectrum. We are dedicated to the care of the youngest victims of firearms violence, like those injured and killed in Uvalde, Texas yesterday. Our hearts and our minds are with the community of Uvalde, we grieve with them much as we grieve for the child (and adult) victims of gun violence we encounter each day in our own trauma centers. This is not new; this is not different; this is not unexpected. Communities are still mourning their losses following the recent mass shootings at a grocery store in Buffalo, NY and a church in Orange County, CA. We have been working to address this issue for many, many years (PTS position statement). Despite efforts to curb gun violence, in 2020 in the US, firearm injuries surpassed motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death in children. In that regard, America is like no other civilized nation on earth. Read more
As providers of pediatric trauma care, we are hands on witnesses to the devastation of firearm violence in children. We are with these children when they are gravely ill. We may be with these children when they draw their last breath. We are responsible for letting the families…the mothers, the fathers, the sisters and brothers know that their loved one died that day. We too are grief-stricken wondering what more we could have done to prevent the tragic loss of life. Could we have trained more? Could we have made different care decisions? Could they have gotten the child to us sooner? But even more devastating to health care professionals is when the weapons used produce injuries that are intentionally unsurvivable and these patients never even make it to care. Such was the case in Sandy Hook. How could this happen…again? We all know this is a solvable problem, if we choose. We know that most Americans support efforts to mitigate this ongoing, needless loss of young lives. We wonder though, why nothing is ever done to advance efforts with broad public support such as universal background checks or expanding child access prevention laws or limiting access to assault-style weapons. If firearms are the reason more children die, more than in car crashes, more than from cancer, why then are we not funding and approaching study of this issue as the public health emergency that it is? Our children deserve better. The Pediatric Trauma Society and its members support common sense measures to curb the seemingly endless epidemic of gun violence. Inaction on this issue is not acceptable and those entrusted with ensuring the well-being of our children and our communities must be held accountable for the change that is necessary.
Michael L. Nance, MD
President, Pediatric Trauma Society
"It takes a monster to kill children. But to watch monsters kill children again and again and do nothing isn’t just insanity—it’s inhumanity." — Amanda Gorman
The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery (JTACS) is the official publication of the Pediatric Trauma Society. All PTS members are eligible to receive the journal at a discounted price as long as your dues are current. The reduced rate of is based on a calendar year and you have the option of choosing a paper and electronic copy, or electronic only. To sign up for the discounted rate, please contact the AAST office at 800-789-4006 and state you are with the PTS and want the discounted rate for JTACS, (please have your PTS membership number handy). To continue to receive JTACS, you will need to contact AAST to renew your subscription starting in October of each year.
PTS Newsletter
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Interested in contributing to the Pediatric Trauma Society newsletter? Join Editor Todd Nickoles and other PTS members in creating a valuable resource for both pediatric and adult trauma care providers. Please contact the National Office for more information.
