July 2025 Cutting Edge Newsletter

Jump to "Editor’s Note"
Jump to "Executive Director's Report" 
Jump to "Program Chair and Recorder's Update"
Jump to "Secretary Treasurer’s Update​"
Jump to "Burn Care and Contemporary Readiness: Where Are We in the World? "
Jump to "Bylaws Change"
Jump to "JTACS Update"
Jump to "Building Bridges Through Mentorship: The AAST Networking Breakfast"
Jump to "Healthcare Economics Committee Update"
Jump to "Research and Education Fund Update" 

Editor’s Note
Written by: Shannon Marie Foster, MD, FACS

Executive Director's Report
Written by: Sharon Gautschy 

Are you interested in volunteering for a committee? Now is the time to fill out your volunteer form. AAST has fifteen committees that accept new volunteers. Committee terms are three years and are renewable for additional terms. A link is below to view the committees, and all committees have pages that list their work projects and information. Be sure to click on the committee’s name. 

Volunteer forms are due August 1, 2025. https://www.aast.org/committees-overview .

REGISTRATION IS OPEN! Registration opened in early June for the 84^th Annual Meeting of AAST and Clinical Congress of Acute Care Surgery. Be sure to register and book your hotel room for the meeting. We look forward to seeing you in Boston! https://www.aast.org/annual-meeting/registration 

Did you know that all members and non-members can view past AAST Grand Rounds and Webinars? They are available in the education section (https://www.aast.org/education/grand-rounds) of the AAST website.  Be sure to check them out!

Written by: Clay Cothren Burlew, MD

As the days are proving warm this summer, I hope you are enjoying some fun and relaxation!

I am happy to report that the Scholarship Committee has awarded 3 research scholarships this year, funded by the Research & Education Fund (REF).  Congratulations to Dr. Tanya Anand, Dr. Kent Garber, and Dr. Sarah Lombardo on their successful proposals.  The REF will also support medical students, residents, and in-training fellows to attend our meeting using support from the 20 for 20 fund.  We are thrilled to support these individuals’ meeting attendance so that they can experience the comradery (and amazing science and education) of the AAST Annual Meeting.

​For those who would like to contribute to the REF, please visit your personalized dashboard on the AAST website. Simply go to the AAST website, Log In via the button on the top right, click on “MY AAST” in the top right corner, and click on “My Dashboard”.  Additionally, the Experience AAST Auction website will go live in August – another opportunity to contribute to the success of the REF while bidding on unique gifts and member experiences (quilting anyone?!?).

Applications for membership closed on July 1^st.  The membership committees of the AAST and the AAST Associate Member Council will soon begin reviewing applications – we hope you will join us at the business meeting on Friday, September 12^th to vote on the proposed slate of new members.  

As always, I encourage each of you to be active in the AAST – watch our Grand Rounds webinars, volunteer for a committee, participate in a multi-institutional trial​, or simply communicate with fellow members.  We are so fortunate to be a part of this community. I look forward to the Annual Meeting in Boston – Sharon and the entire AAST staff have worked tirelessly to bring this meeting together.  As always, I welcome any input or questions you might have. Have a happy summer and I hope to see you in Boston!

Pediatrics Committee​

Burn Care and Contemporary Readiness: Where Are We in the World? 
Written By: Mary E. Fallat, MD and James C Jeng, MD

At the recent American Burn Association (ABA) Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona in April 2025, an expert panel reflected on several relevant topics related to burn injuries. “Civilian Defense: Adult and Pediatric Burn Care from Every Day to the End-of-Days” was a two-part session that updated ABA participants on the bricks and mortar of nuclear detonation and civilian defense, followed by an expert panel that provided an overview of US readiness to care for pediatric burn victims “everyday” and in a disaster.

The session began with a summary of the two-decade collaboration of the ABA with the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to develop burn and blast medical countermeasures. Burns incurred during blast injuries often involve traumatic injuries, and initial emergency and subsequent care may need to be rendered in trauma centers before the patient is transferred to a center for definitive burn care. Although there are centers in the US that deliver both trauma and burn care, this is not uniformly the case. Trauma centers must be prepared to deliver burn care for a period, perhaps even days, if the patient has multiple injuries.

Collaborations with the World Health Organization and US governmental agencies have resulted in technical assistance with nuclear detonation countermeasures for the Ukraine during a time of potential nuclear escalation. The Ukraine was able to transform medical centers into trauma centers with our guidance to better serve their public. A series of articles have been published to alert the medical community about what healthcare might look like after a nuclear strike. Now is the time for trauma surgeons to read them and understand the risks and treatments after a nuclear attack.^1,2

The National Trauma and Emergency Preparedness System (NTEPS) Version 2.0 will serve as a blueprint for trauma system and disaster preparedness amid growing concerns that the U.S. may face large scale combat operations given current international events.³ Members of the trauma community, including burn and pediatric surgeons, have represented the interests of the military and civilians in the planning phases of preparedness for such an event. However, system planning for burn disaster events has often positioned adult over pediatric needs and there has been uneven preparation for children’s burn care in the US.

At the ABA meeting, an expert panel addressed children’s interests in US burn care. The number of trauma centers that take definitive care of children is far less than for adults, and the number of pediatric burn centers is less than pediatric trauma centers. Some but not all children’s hospitals take care of both trauma and burns, although the percentage of burn that a pediatric trauma center will admit varies. The pediatric expert panel addressed gaps in children’s burn care including training paradigms and workforce challenges, education at all levels of the continuum of care, data elements that will allow benchmarking for quality pediatric care, bidirectional communication between burn experts and children’s hospitals, recognition of children’s hospitals that provide burn care, priorities for advocacy and research, and the realities of pediatric disaster preparedness.

Children represented 22% of the population at the last census, and a fifth of children live in rural America. 80% of children first seek care in other than a children’s hospital. Whether or not a child who seeks care in an Emergency Department (ED) receives expert emergency care depends to a large part on the Pediatric Readiness (PR) of the ED.⁴ Pediatric Readiness ensures that the ED has all pediatric-specific requirements and resources needed to provide high-quality emergency care for children.⁵ This includes initial burn care treatment.

A recently published study used 2019–2022 National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) data to describe nonfatal pediatric and adolescent burn cases.⁶ In the United States, about 82,000 infants, children, and adolescents (ages 0–19) visit an ED for nonfatal, unintentional burns annually and around 13% require hospitalization. These numbers may dramatically rise in a nuclear disaster due to both cutaneous burn injuries and radiation illness. Keeping families together is a goal in a disaster and some trauma and burn centers may need to temporarily care for families that span multiple age groups.

Understanding that it will be difficult to take care of patients with burns in a disaster if you don’t have a fundamental knowledge of burn care is a compelling reason to review basic principles of burn resuscitation and treatment for all ages of patient.   

References

1. Jeng JC. A Quartet of American Burn Association Clinical Guidelines for Austere Condition Burn Care: Gestation, Collaboration, Future Impact, and Post Humus Dedication. J Burn Care Res. 2017;38(5):e883. doi:10.1097/BCR.0000000000000452
2. King B, Cancio LC, Jeng JC. Military Burn Care and Burn Disasters.Surg Clin North Am. 2023;103(3):529-538. doi:10.1016/j.suc.2023.01.013
3. https://www.facs.org/media/u1hpi2ce/nteps-blueprint.pdf
4. Remick K, Gausche-Hill M, Joseph MM, Brown K, Snow SK, Wright JL,AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Section on Surgery, AMERICAN COLLEGE OF EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS Pediatric Emergency Medicine Committee, EMERGENCY NURSES ASSOCIATION Pediatric Committee; Pediatric Readiness in the Emergency Department. Pediatrics November 2018; 142 (5): e20182459. 10.1542/peds.2018-2459
5. https://emscimprovement.center/domains/pediatric-readiness-project/
6. Hoffman RK, Lawrence BA, Ali B, Leonardo J, Miller TR. Nonfatal hospital-treated pediatric and adolescent burn cases in the United States: A 2019-2022 National Electronic Injury Surveillance System analysis.Burns. 2025;51(4):107455. doi:10.1016/j.burns.2025.107455

AAST Board of Managers

Bylaws Change
Written by: Clay Cothren Burlew, MD

At the March 26, 2025 Board of Managers Meeting, the Board of Managers approved an update to the AAST Bylaws.

1. Article IV Standing Committees (Page 6), Sections 4.1 & 4.2

• The Board has approved a change in name and composition.

2. Article VII Dues and Fees (Page 9), Section 5 and 5.1

• Change in senior status from 65 to 70 for those still practicing.  Members under 70 who retire from clinical practice will not have to pay dues. 

These bylaw changes will be read and voted on during the Annual Business Meeting, which will be held on Friday, September 12, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern at the Boston Marriott Copley Place in Boston, MA.

Please send any comments to Sharon Gautschy, [email protected].

Thank you

DEI Committee​

Building Bridges Through Mentorship: The AAST Networking Breakfast

Written By: Megan T. Quintana, MD FACS Co-authors: Nicole Goulet, MD FACS and Fariha Sheikh, MD FACS

In recent years, the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) has committed to creating spaces for connection, conversation, and community. One such space is the AAST Networking Breakfast, an early morning gathering at the AAST conference that brings together individuals at all stages of their careers in trauma and acute care surgery.

First launched in 2024, the breakfast was designed to provide a dedicated time and place for medical students, surgical trainees, and junior faculty to meet and engage with mid-career and senior faculty, fostering mentorship relationships and collaborative networks. Attendees participate in small-group, roundtable discussions facilitated by experienced leaders in the field. Topics have included mentorship, health disparities, research, and career development. These conversations offer an opportunity for both seasoned professionals to share their experiences and for newer members to gain insights and guidance as they navigate their academic and clinical paths.

Feedback from the inaugural event was overwhelmingly positive. Participants appreciated the welcoming environment, the relevance of the topics, and the quality of the discussions. As one attendee noted, “It was great to meet and talk with interested people across different career stages.” Another emphasized the strength of the facilitators, who were “engaging and able to move the conversations well.” However, challenges were also noted—despite over 250 people registering for the event, only about 30 attended. Some cited the early start time as a barrier, while others noted a lack of continuity after the event.

We have taken this feedback to heart. For the 2025 breakfast, renewed efforts are underway to increase engagement, improve attendance, and extend the impact of the event beyond the conference itself. This year’s breakfast will feature revised promotional strategies, a more intimate venue, and structured follow-up opportunities to help participants maintain the connections they form. Additional resources will be available at the session for attendees to take with them—tools designed to support mentorship, international career navigation, and ongoing collaboration.

By creating a space where diverse voices are heard, mentorship is prioritized, and community is intentionally cultivated, the AAST Networking Breakfast has quickly become more than just a meeting—it is a catalyst for change. All are invited to attend the upcoming session at the 2025 AAST Annual Meeting in Boston. Whether you are looking to share your experience, gain perspective, or find collaborators who share your values, this breakfast offers a unique opportunity to build meaningful bridges across the trauma surgery community.

Healthcare Economics Committee​

Healthcare Economics Committee Update
Written By: Raeanna C. Adams, MD, MBA, FACS

NEW: The AAST Healthcare Finance Committee is pleased to announce a regularly occurring contribution to the Cutting Edge. We will be working to create an educational publication with a focus on coding issues involving recent changes or updates, topics of widespread relevance, or those with recurrent confusion and need for clarification, especially with topics related to professional billing, such as the following:  

• We await the outcomes of the ongoing legislative debates of healthcare payment rates and reset of telemedicine after the pandemic. In a surprising update for 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) chose not to utilize 16 of 17 new telemedicine codes created by American Medical Association (AMA) Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) but continue to utilize Evaluation and Management (E/M) codes through the extensions of coverage….for now.
  • Currently, mental health services are still exempt from geographic restrictions and can even be audio-only.
  • Other health services may utilize telehealth through September 30, 2025, without site restriction.
  • These may be used for follow-up visits
  • Cannot be billed on the same date as an in-person E/M visit.
• As of 2024, CPT code G2211 is an add-on code for E/M visits that may be used in outpatient billing. It is intended to reflect the intensity of services associated with longitudinal follow-up of a complex condition. This can be relevant in surgical subspecialties if the surgeon’s practice becomes the focal point of follow-up for a single, serious condition or complex condition.
  • Appends to an E/M visit code
  • Not reportable if Modifier 25 is also utilized to show an E/M visit on the same date as a minor procedure or other service.
  • Not to be used when the follow-up is routine or limited
  • The clinician must spend additional time beyond the routine time of the service

We anticipate there will be a much-needed education of clinicians and revenue cycle administrators toward optimization of reimbursement of services. We will work to address this need with rotating contributors.

Managing Editors: Dr. Raeanna Adams and Dr. Samir Fakhry. Watch this space for more…

Research and Education Fund Update
Written By: Suresh Agarwal, MD, Chair, and Paul Albini, MD, Vice Chair

The first half of 2025 has been an exciting and productive time for the Research and Education Fund. With the support of the Associate Member Scholarship and Development Committee, we successfully completed two fundraising campaigns: the 2025 Annual AAST Calendar, which raised $ 11,075, and the June National Gun Violence Awareness Month T-shirt sale, conducted in collaboration with the Injury Prevention Committee, which also raised $6,060. Both initiatives directly support AAST research scholarships and travel awards for the Annual Meeting.

On behalf of the entire REF Committee, we would like to thank all donors from 2024 and 2025. Your continued generosity has been instrumental in sustaining these important efforts.

Looking ahead, we are actively preparing for the Annual Meeting Auction and are excited to reconnect with everyone in Boston this fall. In partnership once again with the Associate Member Scholarship and Development Committee, we are also developing the 2026 Annual AAST Calendar. Trauma programs and industry sponsors will have the opportunity to be featured and highlighted in this widely distributed calendar.

Thank you for your ongoing support of the AAST mission.

Volunteer for An AAST Committee by August 1, 2025!