By Gary Smith, MD, DrPH
Welcome to the first 2017 issue of INROADS!
The Board and staff have been working behind the scenes to advance our strategic priorities set last summer for AAAM and the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS). This includes a detailed financial review and budget proposal with a solid plan for sustainability; an integrated content marketing strategy for the new website, INROADS, and our social media platforms; and finally, a full governance review to modernize AAAM’s bylaws and policies and procedures for future engagement of members and partners passionate to advance our mission.
AAAM understands that strategic partnerships are required in order to succeed in decreasing injuries and deaths on the world’s roadways. In the United States, AAAM has recently joined the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Federal Highway Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, National Safety Council, and other collaborating organizations as a member of the Road to Zero Coalition with the goal of ending fatalities on U.S. roadways within the next 30 years. We also are exploring opportunities to engage in global activities as part of the United Nations (UN) Decade of Action for Road Safety, 2011-2020.
One important approaching global event is the Fourth UN Global Road Safety Week (UNGRSW), May 8-14, 2017. This is being promoted by the UN Road Safety Collaboration with support from Youth for Road Safety (YOURS) in the Netherlands. The focus during this week will be on decreasing speed with the slogan “Save Lives #SlowDown.” Social media platforms have been created on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/UNGRSW/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/UNGRSW), and a website will go live by the end of February (http://www.unroadsafetyweek.org/). A toolkit with materials on how to slow down streets is being developed. Two years ago, AAAM was a key supporting organization of a conference in Costa Rica on Child Road Safety in the Americas as part of the Third UNGRSW. If anyone is interested in organizing an event for this year’s UNGRSW with AAAM as a co-sponsor, please let me know. Please also register your planned activity at http://www.who.int/roadsafety/week/2017/event-registration/en/. A global map will be created on the UNGRSW website showing all of the activities around the world. Finally, the organizers are looking for photographs related to speed and speed management for use on the website and in social media posts. If you have photos that you are willing to share, please send them to info@unroadsafetyweek.org.
As I have stated before, AAAM is in a period of transformative growth. I want to encourage all of you to get involved in the work AAAM is doing. Please login to our website with your user name and password, and visit the Members Only Content page. Fill out the “Join a Committee” form, where you can choose from AAAM’s four committees. A committee chair will then contact you to discuss your interest in more detail. If you have not already done so, please check out the rest of our new website. As we continue to grow the site, we would love to hear your suggestions on how to improve it to better meet your needs.
AIS continues to build its training calendar for 2017 and is working with software vendors and publishers to license the code that has helped hundreds of trauma units and professionals efficiently code injury severity. The American College of Surgeons mandates in the newest version of the Orange Book that “(Trauma registrars) must attend or have previously attended…within 12 months of being hired…the Association of (sic) the Advancement of Automotive Medicine’s Injury Scaling Course”, referring to “AIS and Injury Scaling: Uses and Techniques”. This requirement is a Type II deficiency for verification. AAAM has increased the number of AIS scaling courses to accommodate the increased number of trauma registrars requiring the training. Please continue to refer to the AIS section of the AAAM.org website for updates, training dates, and more.
Thank you for your commitment to eliminating road traffic injuries worldwide. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any feedback, suggestions, or comments on what we can do to serve you better.
Gary A. Smith, MD, DrPH
AAAM President