AAAM capped off an excellent year at our 65th Annual Scientific Conference, “Leading the Race.” The Scientific Program Committee (SPC) planned an amazing conference that included an array of papers, short communications, and posters, as well as an entire day of presentations from students during the Student Symposium. The conference was attended by 188 registrants. This was an outstanding response to a late conversion from hybrid to fully virtual. The SPC and AAAM staff (Bostrom) teams are to be highly congratulated for this success.
Keynote presentations provided a wide range of stimulating topics. We have been encouraged to:
- Advance our causes through enhanced documentation of trauma outcomes
- Translate motor sports safety innovations into a wide range of road safety applications
- Enhance implementation of ambulance safety for adults and children
Special Interest Group (SIG) presentations spotlighted child road safety across the globe. The need for enhanced collaboration between the Road Safety in Low- and Middle-Income Countries SIG and the Global Child and Youth Road Safety SIG was clearly demonstrated, and the advancements and progress in the arena of Automated Vehicles were outlined.
The future of AAAM is critical as we pursue a unified identity for our organization. The Board of Directors is working on a strategic planning enterprise that will help forge the path for our future. Meeting our mission of eliminating road traffic injuries and fatalities worldwide continues to be our goal.
To succeed I believe we must creatively promote outreach to the diverse groups that make our organization unique and strong. Martell in Life of Pi states “To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.”
Without doubt we can advance all aspects of our mission. Our dedicated members and volunteers will lead us to that end through scientific educational programs, public policy recommendations, as well as preeminent Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) coding, training, and certification. I encourage you, if you haven’t already, to get involved in our committee or special interest group work.
Thank you everyone for your support, guidance, and wisdom through this challenging time and in the months ahead.
Marilyn Bull, MD FAAP