Trauma Experts Papadakos and Gestring Author Encyclopedia on Trauma Care
Two of UR Medicine’s experts in trauma care can now say they wrote the book on it too.
Peter Papadakos, M.D., director of UR Medicine’s Division of Critical Care, and Mark Gestring, M.D., director of UR Medicine’s Kessler Trauma Center, have co-authored the “Encyclopedia of Trauma Care,” recently released by Springer Publishing. The two-volume, 1,801-page manual includes contributions from 48 UR Medicine physicians. The forward is written by Michael F. Rotondo, M.D., a nationally known trauma surgeon who serves as associate vice president for UR Medicine’s Strong Memorial Hospital, chief executive officer of the UR Medical Faculty Group, and vice dean for Clinical Affairs for the UR School of Medicine and Dentistry.
In encyclopedic format, readers can rapidly thumb through practical, up-to-date information on major topics in trauma management. In addition to providing information on a full range of organ-specific injuries, the manual’s topics include critical care of the trauma patient, trauma system organization, mass injury scenarios, the impact of new technologies, complications in trauma care, and ethical issues.
“It culls the knowledge and experience of doctors who have spent decades treating patients and mastering their fields of study, and puts it at the fingertips of clinicians in a very useful and organized way,” says Papadakos, who is also professor of Anesthesiology and Surgery, Neurosurgery and Neurology at the UR School of Medicine and Dentistry. “It’s organized in an organ-based manner for ease of use when a practitioner is confronted with a particular injury.”
Papadakos says the encyclopedia—which took five years to complete and features 200 contributors from all over the world—is a key resource for practicing surgeons, intensive care doctors, emergency medicine physicians, critical care team members, and trainees across many disciplines.
Gestring credits the level of collaboration among experts across many departments—in addition to many contributors from the Kessler Trauma Center team—for the book’s successful completion. The Kessler Trauma Center, located within UR Medicine’s Strong Memorial Hospital, is one of only four of New York’s 40 trauma centers to be verified as a Level One trauma center by the American College of Surgeons.
“We have proven our ability to handle difficult cases, and this encyclopedia captures and relates much of that experience and expertise,” says Gestring, who is also associate professor of Surgery, Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics for the UR School of Medicine and Dentistry. “We have a fantastic team, a fantastic facility, and the ability to provide optimal care to our patients, round-the-clock. We have a tremendous commitment to providing the best possible care to the sickest of patients.”