Third Annual South Texas Advanced Symposium
ON TRAUMA &
CRITICAL CARE
The 2023 South Texas Advanced Symposium on trauma and critical care is an educational event designed to provide the latest information on relevant trauma and critical care topics to a wide range of medical professionals. Topics will include: pre-hospital trauma care, damage control, and burn resuscitation.
The conference will focus on evidence-based and clinically relevant information for participants to use in their daily practice, including current trends on trauma and critical care medicine, and principles for practical healthcare application. A diverse roster of professional speakers, including military experts, well- known trauma surgeons, registered nurses, and first responders, will lead the sessions.
Embassy Suites Convention Center
800 Convention Center Blvd.
McAllen, TX 78501
For more information and pricing, contact Julieta Piando at 956-385-3473 or Julieta.Piando@uhsrgv.com.
Calendar of Activities:
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2023
Pre-symposium continuing education sessions
- ATLS Refresher Course
- Mental Health First Aid
- Stop the Bleed Course, Train the Trainer Course
THURSDAY, AUGUST 10, 2023
First responders educational sessions
- Skills Lab
- Web Cadaver Lab
FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2023
Medical, nursing, and allied health event
Continuing medical education (CME) & continuing nurse education (CNE) presentations. A full day trauma symposium featuring experts from across the country (Complete schedule will be available shortly).

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Agenda
EMS Aug 10th
Time | Moderator | Event D | Presenter | Topic |
---|---|---|---|---|
700-800 | Registration/ Breakfast | |||
800-810 | Welcome/ Opening remarks Color Guard | Carlos H. Palacio, MD, FACS | ||
810-8:40 | Dr. Hovorka | Speaker 1 | Sydney Vail MD, FACS | Prolonged Field care |
8:40-9:10 | Speaker 2 | Robert Greenberg, MD, FACEP | Pre hospital TBI care. | |
9:10-9:40 | Speaker 3 | Stephen Rahm EMT-P, NRP, FcEHS | Airway management: the anatomy, physiology and procedure. | |
9:40-10:10 | Speaker 4 | David Meyer, MD, MS, FACS | Guidelines for air transport: helipad to OR | |
10:10-10:40 | Question & Answer Panel (30m) | |||
10:40-10:55 | Break (15m) w snack | |||
10:55-11:25 | Dr. Simpson | Speaker 5 | Alison Wilson, MD, FACS | Appropiate use of tourniquets |
11:25-11:55 | Speaker 6 | Scotty Bolleter BS, EMT-P, FcEHS | Thoracic park: controversies and solutions in emergent chest injury management | |
11:55-12:25 | Speaker 7 | Sydney Vail, MD, FACS | Lightening strikes | |
12:25-12:55 | Question & Answer Panel (30m) | |||
12:55-13:25 | Lunch Speaker 8 | Puneet Singh, MD, FACS, FSSO, CMQ | Burn out in the EMS profession | |
14:00 -17:00 | Webcadaver | Scotty Bolleter EMT-P, NRP, FcEHS | Web-cadaver |
Allied Health Aug 11th
Time | Moderator | Event D | Presenter | Topic |
---|---|---|---|---|
700-800 | Registration/ Breakfast/ Exhibits | |||
800-810 | Welcome/ Opening remarks, Color Guard | Carlos H. Palacio, MD, FACS | ||
810-830 | Dr. Simpson | Speaker 1 | Sydney Vail MD, FACS | EMTALA: How to really understand it |
830-850 | Speaker 2 | Robert Greenberg MD, FACEP | Pediatric care in the ER | |
850-910 | Speaker 3 | Stephen Rahm EMT-P, NRP, FcEHS | Heads Up! Traumatic Brain Injury | |
910-930 | Speaker 4 | Alison Wilson MD, FACS | Post ICU syndrome | |
930-950 | Speaker 5 | Puneet Singh, MD, FACS, FSSO, CMQ | Trainee Communication of Errors/Near Misses | |
950-1020 | Question & Answer Panel (30m) | |||
1020-1035 | Break (15m) w snack/ Exhibits | |||
1035-1055 | Dr. Hovorka | Speaker 6 | Jay Doucet, MD, FACS, MSc, FRCSC, RDMS | Effect of the border wall on border crossing injuries |
1055-1115 | Speaker 7 | Scotty Bolleter BS, EMT-P, FcEHS | Picking Flowers in a Minefield: Avoiding Procedural Errors When Caring for the Critically Ill | |
1115-1135 | Speaker 8 | Sydney Vail MD, FACS | OB trauma: Double jeopardy | |
1135-1155 | Speaker 9 | Lilian Kao MD, MS, MBA, MAMSE, CMQ, FACS | Diversity and equity in trauma surgery | |
1155-1215 | Speaker 10 | Ryan Dumas MD | Trauma Resuscitation teamwork | |
1215-1245 | Question & Answer Panel (30m) | |||
1245-1345 | Dr. Palacio | Lunch With Keynote Speaker | Chief Nim Kidd (Tentative) | Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) |
1345-1400 | Room transition/ Clean up/ Exhibits | |||
1400-1420 | Dr. Palacio | Speaker 11 | Tanya Zakrison MD, MHSc, MPH, FRCS(C), FACS | Pitfalls in the management of firearm injury |
1420-1440 | Speaker 12 | D'Andrea Joseph MD, FACS, FCCM | Intimate partner violence | |
1440-1500 | Speaker 13 | Martin Zielinski, MD, FACS | Whole blood resuscitation for trauma | |
1500-1520 | Speaker 14 | Chris Puglia, MSN, RN, CEN, TCRN | Implementing a whole blood program | |
15:20-15:40 | Speaker 15 | Chrissy Guidry DO, FACS | Healthcare worker well being | |
1540-1600 | Speaker 16 | Chief John O' Valle | Texas Department of Emergency Management | |
1600-1630 | Question and Answer Panel (30 minutes) | |||
1630 - 1645 | Closing Remarks and Evaluation | Dr. Carlos Palacio |