The Advance Trauma Life Support (ATLS) Course is internationally recognised as the standard of care for the early management of trauma casualties. Conducted under the auspices of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Committee on Trauma (COT), the course trains doctors in an evidence-based, systemic approach to the evaluation and treatment of injured patients. Since it was first conducted in 1978 in Nebraska, the ATLS Course has been promulgated to over 60 countries and been used to train over 1 million doctors.

In Jan 1992, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the SAF, the Chapter of Surgeons in the Singapore Academy of Medicine and American College of Surgeons for the promulgation of the ATLS Course in Singapore. The intent was to train active and Operationally Ready National Service medical officers in the management of trauma patients.

The SAF subsequently sent four doctors to the United States to be trained as ATLS Instructors. Upon their return, the first ATLS Provider and Instructor Course was conducted in Aug 1992. Since then, more than 7100 doctors in Singapore have been trained in ATLS.

Conduct of the ATLS Course

The ATLS Course is attended by doctors. All medical officers in the SAF are required to be ATLS-trained. Civilian doctors, both local and overseas, are also eligible to attend the two-day course. The course consists of core content lectures, interactive case presentations, discussions, development of lifesaving skills, practical laboratory experiences and a final performance proficiency evaluation.

There are three ATLS Training Centres in Singapore that conduct the course. They are:

a) The SAF Medical Training Institute located at Nee Soon Camp;
b) National Healthcare Group Training Centre located at Tan Tock Seng Hospital; and
c) Singapore Health Services Training Centre located at Singapore General Hospital.

The National University Hospital Centre opened in 1996 but has since ceased operations in 2003.