The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and trauma care.

This presentation is an account of the involvement of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in trauma care over the past 25 years. In October 1969 a 3 day seminar was held at the College entitled 'The Management of Road Traffic Casualties'. This was in response to an increasing demand for the College to combat the devastating effects resulting from road traffic accidents. By the mid-60s road trauma in Australia and New Zealand, as seen in other fully motorized countries, had reached epidemic proportions. Those directly involved in the care of surgical emergencies were aware of the frequency and severity of road trauma which was striking all sections of the community. Unlike the USA, Australia was not troubled by a high incidence of penetrating injuries due to guns and knives.