Anaesthesia Trauma and Critical Care

Anaesthesia, Trauma and Critical Care (ATACC) is an international trauma organisation.

It is a non-profit charitable organisation whose objective is to deliver the most up-to-date teachings in trauma management and patient care. The organisation's primary activities are teaching medical practitioners and other emergency services personnel in the management of trauma and pre-hospital care. In addition to its educational resources, the organisation also has a highly skilled and multi-disciplinary ATACC Medical Rescue Team (ATACC MRT), composed of practitioners from all specialities. It operates and is available for the purposes of trauma care management in the pre-hospital care environment throughout the United Kingdom on an entirely voluntary basis. There is also an ATACC Disaster Response Team (ATACC DRT) available on standby for deployment an international basis to operate throughout international disasters. The ATACC DRT, affiliated with the United Nations, has responded to many international disasters and has been involved in many international disaster response training exercises.

The aims and ethos of the ATACC organisation are to develop, educate and perform the Gold Standard of trauma and pre-hospital clinical care.

ATACC courses
Anaesthesia, Trauma and Critical Care (ATACC) Course is an international trauma course based in the United Kingdom. Accredited by two Royal Colleges and various UK emergency medical services, it teaches trauma care and trauma patient management post ATLS certification. Courses run at numerous times throughout the year for candidates drawn from all areas of medicine and trauma care.

The ATACC Faculty consists of clinicians from each medical speciality and senior members of the various emergency services. For this reason, the ATACC course is a multi-disciplinary course especially suited for all specialties and is ideal for those working within trauma, surgery, anaesthesia, emergency medicine, critical care, radiology and pre-hospital medicine. It is also appropriate for any individual in a profession allied to medicine who may encounter trauma patients as part of their daily duties (whether they be Nurses, Operating Department Practitioners [ODPs], Physician Assistants or members of the emergency services) such as Paramedics, Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs).

The courses teach trauma management from the roadside through to critical care and, as such, include both pre-hospital and in-hospital care of trauma patients.

Numerous other courses have been developed from the ATACC course including Rescue-trauma training (RTACC), scene safety and assessment (ISAC), critical care transport (BATT), human simulation critical incident training (CISTR).

ATACC started as a new approach to trauma education but has since developed into a spectrum of courses in addition to a highly skilled trauma and rescue team providing critical care at the roadside and other difficult environments. Every member of the ATACC team is committed to operating to the highest clinical standards, to keeping the ATACC courses up-to-date and to improving trauma care worldwide.

Other trauma courses
Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) was developed in the United States by the American College of Surgeons as a training programme for doctors in the management of acute trauma cases.

Definitive Surgical Trauma Skills course (DSTS) is a joint development between The Royal College of Surgeons of England, The Royal Centre for Defence Medicine and The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, based in Maryland, USA. Originally designed for the military, the training structure was adapted to accommodate civilian surgical consultants and teaches vascular, cardiothoracic and general surgery techniques.