Critical Care Committee

The mission of the AAST Critical Care Committee is to advance the field of surgical critical care by conducting, promoting, and disseminating high-quality research, education, and evidence-based best practices relevant to the care of critically injured trauma and emergency general surgery patients. The committee serves as a resource for the AAST membership by fostering collaboration, supporting scholarly activity, and providing up-to-date clinical guidance that enhances patient outcomes across diverse care settings.
 
A central component of this mission is the development of consensus documents, position statements, and guideline-driven recommendations that synthesize the best available evidence and expert opinion in surgical critical care. The committee convenes multidisciplinary working groups to review current literature, evaluate evolving practices, and identify key areas where standardized guidance can improve patient care and support critical decision-making. These documents establish uniform standards of care, clarify clinical uncertainties, provide practical recommendations, and highlight emerging trends and innovations to ensure AAST members remain leaders in the specialty.
 
The committee is also committed to the broad dissemination of these materials through peer-reviewed publications, national meeting presentations, webinars, digital toolkits, and integration into AAST’s online resource library. By ensuring that this guidance reaches clinicians across institutions and practice environments, the committee helps drive meaningful improvements in bedside care and practice patterns nationwide.
 
In addition, the committee is deeply invested in fostering the growth and sustainability of the surgical critical care workforce. This includes ongoing efforts to promote high-quality surgical critical care fellowship training, support program directors and educators, and help define core competencies, educational milestones, and training standards that prepare fellows for contemporary and future practice. The committee also works to highlight the value and unique skill set of surgical intensivists, advocate for the specialty within the broader surgical community, and develop initiatives aimed at recruitment, mentorship, and professional development for trainees and early-career surgeons. Through collaboration with national partners and accrediting bodies, the committee seeks to strengthen the pipeline of well-trained surgical intensivists equipped to meet growing patient and system needs.
 
Across all these efforts, the AAST Critical Care Committee remains dedicated to promoting innovation, leadership, education, and excellence within surgical critical care, while ensuring that critically ill and injured patients receive the highest standard of care.