Mission Statement 
Mission statement of the European Trauma
Society
Care for the injured and their wounds is the oldest realm of
surgeons, and was until the end of the 19th
century their main occupation. Since then, the improvement of
surgical technique and possibilities has led, initially, to
a focusing on the elective surgery of the body cavities, and
then to an increasing specialization in organ systems or anatomical
regions, respectively. Trauma surgery is defined by pathogenetic
and organizational approaches to the trauma victim and has developed
and established itself as an independent surgical discipline
in Central Europe during the last 50 years. This process was
guided by a holistic view of the treatment of trauma patients
- in no way by a limitation to the injured musculoskeletal system.
Mechanical and thermal trauma not only causes injuries of various
localizations and severity, but also leads to systemic reactions
and dysregulation of physiologic feed back mechanisms and the
immunologic defense system. The correct and timely diagnosis
as well as the treatment of the individual injuries and their
systemic impact alone and in combination requires specific surgical
knowledge and skills, which can only be acquired through a specific
training and may only come to fruition in an independent organizational
environment. The Trauma Surgeon as a "General Surgeon" of the
trauma victim should be able to treat by himself the majority
of the predominant injury patterns and to direct the additional
possiblities of organ specialists as needed.
The main objective of the "European Trauma Society" (ETS) is
to guarantee the best standard of care in traumatology in Europe.
Apart from promoting training of traumatology at the highest
possible level and scientific exchange this should be achieved
by setting and recommending standards to the Surgical Boards
of the member states, and by encouraging health authorities
as well as national and international scientific societies of
traumatology to improve the educational and organizational environment
for an effective trauma care. As a first measure the "Division
of Traumatology" of the "Section of General Surgery" of the
"Union Europeenne des Medecins Specialistes" (UEMS) was founded
in October of 1998, of which the trauma societies of the EU-countries,
including Switzerland and Norway, as well as the associated
countries Hungary, Poland, Croatia, Malta, Slovenia and Turkey
are members. The main objective of the "Division of Traumatology"
is to guarantee the best standard of trauma care in the member-countries
of the UEMS, by elevating the training of Trauma Surgeons to
the highest possible level. This shall be achieved by definitions
and recommandations of standards and guidelines to the "European
Board of Surgery" and by encouraging health authorities as well
as national and international societies of traumtology to adopt
these standards. |
