ADVANCED TRAUMA LIFE SUPPORT (ATLS) IN BULGARIA

“Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS)/ is a program to train physicians in the treatment of trauma patients in the early stages of hospitalization, developed by the American College of Surgeons/ACS/.

Today, the ATLS course is a global program for the trauma approach with validated positive training and treatment outcomes. The goals of ATLS training are: rapid and accurate assessment of the patient’s condition, resuscitation and stabilization of the patient according to priority, and determining if the patient’s needs exceed the facility’s capabilities.

The ATLS training for Bulgaria was carried out after a memorandum was signed by BACHT /Bulgarian Association of Emergency Surgery and Traumatology/ founded in 2018 in Plovdiv and the American College of Surgeons/ACS/ in 2023 and held at MU Plovdiv. The inaugural ATLS course for Bulgaria was held from May 20 to 25, 2024 at the simulation center of MU Plovdiv, led by 6 world-class instructors. The course trained 16 doctors and certified 6 Bulgarian instructors, coordinator, director and training center at MU Plovdiv.

ATLS is based on repeated, schematic and simple assessments of specific signs and symptoms for immediate recognition and treatment of life-threatening complications, allowing standardisation of the approach to trauma – ‘right patient, right hospital, right time’. Each trauma patient is admitted to hospital by specially trained staff, following a treatment protocol. This optimizes response resources (whether to fly in a rescue helicopter, or decide when and whether to do a CT scan or go directly to the operating room) and improves patient outcomes.

ATLS is a method for establishing priorities in trauma emergency care. The basic premises are to treat the greatest threat to life first and treatment should be administered even when a definitive diagnosis has not yet been made. The ATLS course is important because the approach is systematic, simplified, safe, and reliable, and it is designed for physicians who treat trauma patients by providing a plan for assessment, treatment, education, and quality assurance. ATLS protocols provide specific guidelines for the evaluation and treatment of trauma patients during the golden hour, when prompt assessment and proper intervention can dramatically improve survival rates.This is particularly useful in the diagnosis, referral and emergency treatment in surgical wards and clinics of patients with thoracic and combined trauma. ATLS was first introduced in 1980 in the United States and is now taught to more than 1 million physicians in more than 80 countries worldwide. Surveys have shown surgeons’ positive attitudes towards ATLS, and the benefits of an algorithmic/A-B-C-D-E/approach to the treatment of severe trauma.

ATLS training is beneficial from a professional and educational standpoint, significantly increasing knowledge of trauma treatment by further developing practical skills, organization of the trauma approach, identification of treatment priorities – triage, and especially assisting in critical decision making in the treatment of patients with multiple traumas. This leads to more lives being saved.

Upcoming course sessions:

• 08 – 10 November 2025 г.
• 12 – 14 December 2025 г.