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American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Archives

 Collection
Identifier: MS C 392

Abstract

The AAST was founded in 1938 with the purposes to furnish leadership and to foster advances in the surgery of trauma; to afford a forum for the exchange of knowledge pertaining to research, practice and training in the surgery of trauma; to stimulate investigation and teaching in the methods of preventing, correcting and treating injuries from all types of accidents; to enhance the study and practice of the surgery of trauma by establishing lectureships, scholarships, foundations, and appropriate evaluation procedures in the surgery of trauma where appropriate; and to afford recognition to those who have contributed to the surgery of trauma by extending to them membership in the Association.

Dates

  • 1938-2004

Extent

23 Linear Feet (25 boxes)

Creator

Physical Location

Materials stored onsite. History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine

Language of Materials

English

Restrictions

Portions of the collection are restricted. Contact the Reference Staff for information regarding access.

Copyright and Re-use Information

Copyright was dedicated to the public domain, however permission to cite or quote must be obtained from the AAST. Archival collections often contain mixed copyrights; while NLM is the owner of the physical items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. It is the user's responsibility to research and understand any applicable copyright and re-publication rights not allowed by fair use. NLM does not grant permissions to publish.

Privacy Information

Archives and manuscript collections may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in any collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications for which the National Library of Medicine assumes no responsibility.

Historical Note

The American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) was founded in 1938 with the purposes to furnish leadership and to foster advances in the surgery of trauma; to afford a forum for the exchange of knowledge pertaining to research, practice and training in the surgery of trauma; to stimulate investigation and teaching in the methods of preventing, correcting and treating injuries from all types of accidents; to enhance the study and practice of the surgery of trauma by establishing lectureships, scholarships, foundations, and appropriate evaluation procedures in the surgery of trauma where appropriate; to afford recognition to those who have contributed to the surgery of trauma by extending to them membership in the Association. Surgery of trauma is that field of medicine which includes investigation, care and rehabilitation of the injured patient.

Founded at a time when traumatic surgery was one of the fastest growing branches in the field of surgery, there was no special interest in trauma among the vast majority of general surgeons. After World War I, there was an attitude against working with fractures, burns, shock or other injuries that were common to the war. However due to America's increasing industrialization, these types of injuries were happening more frequently and causing a quandary for traumatic surgery. Less then ten percent of the papers presented at conferences for the American Surgical, Southern Surgical, Western Surgical, and Pacific Coast Surgical Associations related to trauma. Half of the patients that hospitals admitted were trauma cases, but over ninety percent of doctors who treated these patients had no interest in trauma as a specialty.

At the 1937 meeting for the Western Surgical Association a group of six surgeons discussed this lack of interest in the treatment of surgery of trauma. Several days later, at the Southern Surgical Association, others joined the dialogue about how to improve the surgery of trauma. A committee formed to look into the organization of a new society focusing on the surgery of trauma. The committee featured Edgar Gilcreest, as the chair and Ralph Carothers as secretary. Gilcreest and Carothers then traveled across the country interviewing surgeons and raising interest in a new trauma society. After gauging interest, they planned an organizational meeting for the American Association of Traumatic Surgery (AATS) on June 14, 1938. Before the organizational meeting, they sent letters to 300 surgeons in the United States and Canada; over 175 responses came back supporting the formation of the AATS. In its first year of existence, the association changed its name several times, but at the second annual meeting the organization formerly identified itself as the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST).

The AAST is a scientific society that is limited in size with membership conferred only by election. Initially, 85% of the members were to be general surgeons so that the AAST would not become a too-narrowly-focused specialty organization. As time went on, the membership became more lenient for including surgical specialists. Members are expected to be active in their particular specialty board, usually either the American Board of Surgery (ABS) or the American College of Surgery (ACS). Kellogg Speed M.D., first president and founding member of the AAST, also served on the Board of Governors for ACS.

The AAST meets annually with the scientific sessionsbeing the most anticipated. The scientific sessions feature paper presentations by fellows and their guests followed by discussion. Initially, the Secretary organized the scientific program. In 1963, the Board of Managers created the position of Program Chairman to assume the responsibility of organizing the scientific sessions; in 1966 this duty was transferred to the Recorder.

In 1959, after the program committee accepted an unparalleled number of papers it became apparent that the AAST needed to develop its own journal. The Journal of Trauma, the first journal devoted solely to trauma, was published in 1961. Initially the journal was published bi-monthly, but became a monthly publication in 1969. Changes in format took place in 1970 that allowed a thirty percent increase in content. The format changed again in 1978, adopting a style more generally used by other medical journals. Initially funded with a portion of membership dues, it later became self-sufficient and was able to return a profit.

Notable Accomplishments

In 1956, AAST president Charles G. Johnston, M.D. proposed the AAST, the American College of Surgery, and the National Safety Council combine their efforts to form the Joint Action Program. Its purpose is to promote accident prevention and better emergency care of the injured. To accomplish this, the program aimed to improve training of ambulance personnel, require ambulances to carry full equipment, and require ambulances to conform to all laws and regulations governing ordinary traffic. In 1961, the Surgeon's Award for Distinguished Service to Safety by the National Safety Council was awarded to Johnston for his work with the Joint Action Program.

One of the AAST's current key resources is the National Trauma Data Bank. It was started by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma and it holds over one million records from 405 trauma centers. The AAST also continues to fund fellowships and trauma research to promote the training of trauma surgeons. Its legislative action program has also become more active. A current focus is the National Trauma/EMS Systems Program within the Health Resources and Services Administration. It works to support statewide trauma system development within states' EMS systems.

Sources: http://www.aast.org/ viewed July 11, 2005.

Collection Summary

Meeting minutes, proceedings, and transciptions, annual meeting Transactions, photographs, correspondence, biographical material, presidential addresses, subject files, and publications (1938-2004; 23 linear feet) document the activities, leadership and membership of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST). The bulk of the collection dates between 1970-present and primarily documents the AAST's annual meeting activities, where the Board of Managers, Executive Office, and internal committees meet to conduct the Association's business. Each group produces an agenda, minutes, and transcriptions of its proceedings that are then distributed to the Association's membership. The official titles for these publications and quasi-publications change over time, but serve the same business functions throughout.

The Board of Managers functions as the AAST board of directors. The officers include the President, President-Elect, Vice-President, Secretary-Treasurer, Recorder, the three most recent Past-Presidents, and four Managers-at-Large including the Critical Care Manager and the Editor of the Journal of Trauma. The Executive Office series contains records relating to the president, treasurer, secretary, secretary-treasurer, Journal of Trauma editor, recorder, and managers. Again, the main activities of these groups occurs at the annual meeting and primarily involves organizing the next annual meeting, developing the agenda, rating and selecting papers to be delivered, and defining and prioritizing issues important to the membership that AAST should promote.

The Annual Meeting series primarily contains the essential products of the annual meeting: the official Transactions; transcripts of the invited discussions critiquing the formal papers that are delivered; and presidential addresses. Another primary activity, new members are chosen each year at the annual meeting. Entrance into the fellowship is by invitation only (the membership directory is called the "Family Directory," indicating one of the AAST's guiding principles). The Association accepts recommendations as well as formally rating candidates; a listing of eligible candidates is published each year and distributed to the membership, however these lists and deliberations are restricted from general use in this collection. Both the Directory and candidate lists can be found in the Publications series.

The membership is best documented by the Member Biography Files subseries that comprises most all of the Membership Records series. It contains autobiographies, photographs, curriculum vitas, and obituaries of past members. In 1969, the AAST President requested that members contribute a photograph and biographical information to compose a book of the existing members that could then be passed down to new presidents. In 1981, during the Archives Committee's early stages, there was another appeal for biographical data from members. Equally valuable is the nearly complete selection of former AAST president's portraits found in the Photographs and Slides series.

The AAST is very active in the medical profession and contributes to other organizations both financially and intellectually. The Associated Organizations series documents AAST's relationship with other organizations in the medical profession. The American College of Surgeons, American Trauma Society, and the Association of American Medical Colleges are three of the best-represented organizations. The Joint Action Program was a group effort between the AAST, National Safety Council and American College of Surgeons and records for it can be found in the National Safety Council subseries.

Abstract

The AAST was founded in 1938 with the purposes to furnish leadership and to foster advances in the surgery of trauma; to afford a forum for the exchange of knowledge pertaining to research, practice and training in the surgery of trauma; to stimulate investigation and teaching in the methods of preventing, correcting and treating injuries from all types of accidents; to enhance the study and practice of the surgery of trauma by establishing lectureships, scholarships, foundations, and appropriate evaluation procedures in the surgery of trauma where appropriate; and to afford recognition to those who have contributed to the surgery of trauma by extending to them membership in the Association.

Physical Location

Materials stored onsite. History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine

Provenance

Gift by the Association, in periodic accessions.

General

Processed by
Jeffrey Lewis
Processing Completed
July 2005
Encoded by
Jeffrey Lewis
Title
Finding Aid to the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Archives, 1938-2004
Status
Unverified Partial Draft
Author
Jeffrey Lewis
Date
July 2005
Language of description
English
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English
Edition statement
1.0

Collecting Area Details

Part of the Archives and Modern Manuscripts Collection Collecting Area

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