A Message from ITLS Chairman Anthony Connelly, EMT-P, BhSc, QAM, PGced

Dear ITLS Family,

Over this holiday season, I hope you are enjoying some quality time with your family and friends. As we start a new year, I thought I would reflect on the achievements of ITLS in 2022 and what we can look forward to in 2023.

The ITLS Board of Directors prepared and implemented contingency plans to ensure ITLS continues to support chapters and training centres during a very challenging time. ITLS instructors around the world continue to deliver ITLS educational courses in many diverse ways.

In 2022, we celebrated a few milestones. The ITLS business meeting and International Trauma Conference were held in-person after two years of virtual meetings. It was a joy to see over 150 attendees from 13 countries coming together in Tampa to share experiences, and to feel the collective happiness at being able to meet once again. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Conference Planning Committee for their hard work in ensuring a successful conference.

We also launched the High Threat manual and conducted a developmental Instructor course at the conference to facilitate the roll-out. The course instructor materials will be ready in January, and I encourage all chapters and training centres to adopt the course for your learners.

Since we last met in person, the ITLS has added three new ITLS chapters:

Last year saw some changes with the staff of ITLS. Ginny Kennedy Palys, Executive Director of ITLS, retired from this role and will be spending quality time in her new home with her family. We recognized her long service and dedication to ITLS at the conference and named the ITLS Ambassador Award in her name. It will now be known as the Ginny Kennedy Palys Ambassador Award. Ginny also received the Donna Hastings Leadership Award during the business meeting.

We appointed Bailey McMurray as the new Executive Director, and I am sure you will all join me in welcoming Bailey to the ITLS family. Ginny has kindly offered to assist Bailey in transitioning to her role.

Sadly, in 2022 we lost two members of our ITLS family. Peter Macintyre and J.T. Stevens were valued contributors as well as personal friends and will be greatly missed.

As we look forward to 2023, we have also started work on the next ITLS text to support our adult course. The Editorial Board has been busy reviewing the latest evidence in trauma management to help us all stay up to date with new science. The Editorial Board continues to look at new and innovative ways to deliver our educational programs.

I look forward to 2023 as we continue to grow our programs around the world, as well as supporting our existing chapters and training centres. I hope to see you all at our next International Trauma Conference in Houston, Texas from November 2 -5, 2023.

Happy New Year to you and your families.