In a major advancement for global trauma education, the ACS has launched the 11th edition of the Advanced Trauma Life Support® (ATLS®) program.
ATLS serves more than 50,000 learners annually in 80+ countries. As the premier trauma education course, it plays a vital role in strengthening trauma systems at both state and national levels. The 11th edition has been updated to ensure global applicability, with the goal of expanding its reach to additional providers and further enhancing patient care worldwide.
More than 200 trauma experts and educators from more than 20 countries contributed to a comprehensive redesign of the curriculum, which reimagines and reorganizes every element to meet the evolving needs of today’s trauma care providers.
This new version reflects changes designed to enhance the educational content and visual presentation of the previous edition. All ATLS course types, including Traditional, Hybrid, Refresher, and Instructor courses, will include the revised content.
One of the most significant changes is refining the Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, Exposure (ABCDE) approach to assess and treat trauma patients. For certain patients, rapid control of exsanguinating external hemorrhage is lifesaving. To reflect this additional focus, the letter “x” was added to the beginning of the well-known ATLS mnemonic. ABCDE is now xABCDE.
The 11th Edition Course Manual is organized into three major sections:
- SECTION I: Evaluation, Management, and Resuscitation of the Injured Patient (xABCDE)
Subjects related to initial assessment, both primary and secondary surveys, along with team function, communication, thermal injury, special populations, musculoskeletal trauma, and transfer, are covered in this section.
- SECTION II: Trauma Systems and Patient-Centered Care
“Trauma Systems” is an entirely new chapter. Concepts related to triage and disaster management have been moved from appendices to an expanded chapter. Three new chapters, “Injury Prevention,” “Trauma-Informed Care and Social Determinants of Health,” and “Communicating Serious News in the Acute Setting,” address these critical subjects in trauma care.
- SECTION III: Specific Injuries and Injury Patterns—Special Considerations
This section includes topics on specific injuries and injury patterns. "Thoracic,” “Abdominopelvic,” and “Genitourinary Trauma” reviews specific injuries not previously discussed and updates on topics that were present in the 10th Edition “Abdominal and Pelvic Trauma” chapter. “Penetrating Trauma” is a new chapter providing education regarding unique management challenges of these injuries. Both “Ocular Injuries” and “Injury in Combat Zones and Austere Environments” were updated and moved from the appendices.
The completely revised course manual features 200+ new tables and images, while course updates enhance hands on training through redesigned interactive discussions and skill stations without extending course length. Learners also gain access to 26 new interactive online modules, many of them optional, designed to support flexible study.
The MyATLS mobile app—which will soon feature the 11th edition—offers quick access to essential ATLS content and trauma care resources and is available on both the Apple Store and Google Play by searching “MyATLS.”
Learn more about ATLS and register for a course today.
