a brief HISTORY OF the PANAMERICAN TRAUMA SOCIETY

The Panamerican Trauma Society (PTS) was officially founded in Bogota in 1986.  Previously, Dr. Armando Baqueiro had the idea to create a society in which the main objective was to improve the management of trauma patients among Latin American countries.  Dr. Baqueiro, 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—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 has grown steadily with the participation of surgeons, emergency physicians, internists, nurses, and paramedics, residents and medical students.  The PTS Annual Congresses have gained an international reputation with the participation of leading health professionals in Trauma and Critical Care from around the world.

Since 2003 the PTS 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 headquarters office was relocated from Pittsburgh, PA to Richmond, VA. The organization is hosted by the Division of Acute Care Surgical Services, Department of Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University under the direction of Dr. Rao Ivatury and Dr. Michel Aboutanos. 

The Panamerican Trauma Society Journal is published biannually and 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 working with several committees which will be responsible for developing guidelines for a comprehensive management of trauma patients in different regions and countries. The committees will also serve as an 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 support local societies to the care and management of trauma patients in several countries including Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Bolivia, Peru and Argentina.

30 Years to Here:
Our PTS History 

We invite you to join this exciting multicultural society.

The PTS is one of the first in the world dedicated to patient care and trauma education.