Traumatic injuries are a leading cause of death and disability throughout the world. War, gun violence, suicide attempts, road traffic injuries and falls can result in critical hemorrhage. The international organization Control Avanzado del Sangrado en Trauma y Cirugía Mayor (CASTYM) is dedicated to helping professionals manage the bleeding.
Fredy Ariza, M.D., Ph.D.
On Tuesday, five members of the CASTYM team will present the CASTYM (ABC-TAMS) workshop, “Advanced Bleeding Control in Trauma and Major Surgery.” The course will train participants to evaluate and address uncontrolled bleeding and high blood loss.
“In the last 10 years, important evidence-based guidelines for the management of patients with major bleeding have emerged, but translation to practice has been difficult, especially for developing countries,” said Fredy Ariza, M.D., Ph.D., an Anesthesiologist at the University Hospital Fundación Valle del Lili in Cali, Columbia and CASTYM Co-Founder.
8 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Tuesday
W209ABC
Dr. Ariza’s partner is Fernando Raffán, M.D., an Anesthesiologist at the University Hospital Fundacion Santafe de Bogota, Columbia. The two physicians developed this workshop 11 years ago because they felt something was missing from other trauma-management certification programs.
“We wanted to do more than teach how to manage bleeding. We wanted to explain why,” Dr. Raffán said.
During the four-hour workshop, Drs. Ariza and Raffán will enlighten anesthesiologists and other specialists about alternative therapies and tools that can minimize the risks of transfusion and secondary damage. The panel will review basic and advanced concepts, including the physiology of hemostasis, microcirculation, blood components use, pro-hemostatic drugs and transfusion safety.
The workshop will offer a blended learning approach that includes both online and classroom-based instruction. Attendees will have the opportunity to practice new procedures by participating in clinical simulations. At the end of the session, participants who score an 80 percent on the final exam will earn ABC-TAMS certification.
Fernando Raffán, M.D.
“Every time we present a workshop, we hear about physicians who have gone back to their hometown institutions and pushed for the creation of a trauma committee or new hemorrhaging protocols,” Dr. Ariza said.
According to the World Health Organization, 16,000 people die from injuries every day. Approximately 90 percent of those trauma patients live in low- and middle-income countries. With a shortage of blood and blood products available in underdeveloped regions, CASTYM encourages conservation at every institution.
“The use of resources for the stabilization of patients with severe bleeding related to surgery or trauma has become a problem of political, social and economic order,” said Dr. Ariza.
More than 1,300 professionals worldwide have completed the ABC-TAMS workshop to date. CASTYM instructors have educated physicians in every corner of Latin America, a few European cities, and now the U.S.
Residents-in-training, anesthesiologists, paramedics and clinic staff members will all learn something new. Many surgical, critical care and emergency medicine societies throughout the world consider this course a benchmark in trauma education.
The ASA/ABC-TAMS workshop will be presented in Spanish, but instructors will gladly provide English translations.
Treating trauma victims may not be part of every anesthesiologist’s daily schedule, but the theories and procedures taught by CASTYM can easily translate to major surgery and ICU care. It’s time to learn from these global colleagues who offer innovative perspectives.
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