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Dear Members of the ATS:
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the opportunity of serving as president of ATS. This is the last year as president of ATS and I believe it is an exciting time of transition for ATS.
As I begin, I would like to thank the ATS staff: Diana Colomo, Theresa Smith, and Harry Teter. They serve tirelessly to serve the organization. In addition, ATS has recruited a Programs Director, Michael Cronin, who has really taken charge of moving each of our programs forward. Finally, I would like to thank Heidi Hotz, President Elect of ATS, who has actively engaged in the planning and activities of ATS. Heidi will make an excellent President.
I believe my most significant contribution to the ATS is to help the national organization take charge of its programs on a day-to-day basis. ATS is moving to becoming a much stronger organization and the progress of our programs is a testament to the wisdom of that approach.
Our programs are the heart of the organization and we are aggressively pursuing both onsite and distance (web-based) learning modules. We have a host of terrific educational programs that are all available to our members and we hope will soon be on line in a distance-learning format.
Our Trauma Survivor Network is up and running in a dozen trauma centers and is getting started in others. We have learned from the experiences at these pilot centers and are in the process of making the program user friendly for all our Trauma Center Institutional members. In addition we have hired Anna Bradford, social worker who helped launch several of the TSN programs, to serve as our TSN National Coordinator. With her help we will push to get the TSN programs implemented at many more trauma centers. Our hope is to make the TSN training modules available on-line at our website.
Our educational products, including the 2nd Trauma Course and our Trauma Register Course are quite popular and are being taught around the country. Michelle Pomphrey of our Board of Directors led the effort to create a DVD-based learning format for the TRC and this is serving as a model for our other programs. In addition, our Trauma Program Managers have just finished revising the Trauma Coordinator Course and it will be rolled this spring as a newly revised Trauma Program Manager Course. We are also looking to update our Bystander Care Course and materials and also make it a web-based learning opportunity for the public. Please check our website for dates and times of courses.
I look forward to continuing to help ATS accomplish its vision. That vision is to be the preeminent national health care organization dedicated to eliminating needless death and disability from injury by providing information and education; promoting public awareness and prevention; establishing partnerships; advocacy; and the supporting of trauma patients and their families, health care institutions and professionals.
Thank you again for the honor to serve as your President.
Sincerely,
Marc Levison, MD