Editor’s note: Media around the world, including social media, frequently report on American College of Surgeons (ACS) activities. Following are brief excerpts from news stories published from February through May 2019 that mention key ACS programs and initiatives, including research findings that appear in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. To access the news items in their entirety, visit the online ACS Newsroom.
More Nevadans are learning to treat gunshot wounds
KUNR, February 4, 2019
“A few months later, the American College of Surgeons—a group of more than 80,000 surgeons worldwide—formed the Hartford Consensus under the guidance of [Lenworth M. Jacobs, Jr., MD, MPH, FACS]. Their work led to the creation of Stop the Bleed, which has adapted military protocols for treating injuries.”
Sweeping study finds overlapping surgeries generally safe—with exceptions
WBUR, February 26, 2019
“The JAMA paper underscores that patients have the right to know if their surgery will overlap with another patient’s.
“That is already the emphatic position of the American College of Surgeons, says its Executive Director Dr. David Hoyt [MD, FACS]: ‘We very strongly feel that this should be something discussed with the patient as part of the consent document,’ he says.”
What it takes to get patients over 65 through surgery
Philadelphia Inquirer, February 27, 2019
“The John A. Hartford Foundation and the American College of Surgeons have been working to create geriatric surgery guidelines that take the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social needs of seniors into account. After being piloted in seven health systems, those standards, which encourage pre-surgical cognitive testing, are ready to roll out nationally in June, said Marcus Escobedo, senior program officer for the foundation.”
A lawmaker learned of an active shooter in her state during a hearing about gun violence prevention
CNN, March 7, 2019
“The American College of Surgeons ‘supports an appropriations request of $50 million specifically for firearm morbidity and mortality prevention research through the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] as part of the 2020 fiscal year, Dr. Ronald Stewart [MD, FACS], Director of Trauma Programs at the American College of Surgeons, said in a prepared statement for delivery to lawmakers at the hearing.”
The moose: A rare but often deadly road hazard
U.S. News & World Report, March 19, 2019
“Moose collisions are most frequent after sunset and, to a lesser extent, near sunrise. However, the risk of a fatal collision with a moose is almost three times higher at midday than at other times during the day, perhaps because of speed and other driver factors. Seasonally, moose collisions are more common in the late spring and summer.
“The study was published online in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.”
Frailty before surgery tied to more complications, higher costs
Reuters, March 28, 2019
“Much of the previous research linking frailty to worse surgical outcomes has focused on elderly patients or other high-risk groups, researchers note in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
In the current study, however, some relatively young people in their 40s and 50s had high levels of frailty, [Claire L. Isbell, MD, MSCI, FACS] said.”
Turning bystanders into first responders
The New Yorker, April 8, 2019
“[Lenworth M. Jacobs, Jr., MD, MPH, FACS] [is] a Regent of the American College of Surgeons, an organization with some eighty thousand members worldwide. At an ACS meeting soon after Sandy Hook, he urged his colleagues to focus on mitigating losses in Intentional Mass Casualty Events. ‘Obviously, prevention is the way to go,’ he said. ‘But, once something has happened, how can we increase survival?’”
Gallstones are the pregnancy complication no one warned me about
Good Housekeeping, April 18, 2019
“Gallbladder disease in pregnancy contributes to premature birth, a February paper from the American College of Surgeons found. The study concluded that, in order to preserve mothers’ health and allow babies more time to develop, surgical intervention in pregnant women should be avoided as much as possible.”
Keeping engagement in times of change
American Association for Physician Leadership, May 6, 2019
“Just as space is a valuable commodity, time is a precious resource. Leaders can help eliminate waste by closely examining clinic staffing, says Carlos A. Pellegrini, MD, FACS, professor emeritus in the department of surgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle and a past President of the American College of Surgeons.”
How traumatic injury has become a health care crisis
The Telegraph, May 15, 2019
“In 1966, the National Academy of Sciences recognized the massive societal burden of traumatic injury and released a report detailing the extent of unintentional, or traumatic, injury in the U.S. This report provided recommendations for the development of pre-hospital care, trauma systems, patient registries and injury research.
“A decade later, the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma developed guidelines that set treatment standards for local and regional trauma centers. These initiatives have led to remarkable improvements in 30-day or in-hospital trauma mortality rates.”
