Promulgation of ATLS Program in Bangladesh was a long tedious process through a series of MoU between the stake holders. The first of the series of MoU was between Society of Surgeons of Bangladesh (SOSB) represented by Professor Shafquat Hussain Khundkar, FCPS, the then President of SOSB, Abdul K Ghani, MD, Member of SOSB, and Michael Hollands, MD, FACS Region XVI Chief and John B. Kortbeek, MD, FRCSC, FACS, International ATLS Course Director of American College of Surgeons (ACS) on the 17 July, 2011.
The 2nd MoU was signed on 3rd December, 2013 between SOSB represented by Professor Feroze Quader, the then Secretary General of SOSB and Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS) represented by Professor Kanak Kanti Barua, the then Honorary Secretary of BCPS.
Michael Hollands wanted to ensure the involvement of the Government in the program before he signed the MoU for the second time to make sure the program takes off in a sustainable manner. Probably, with this idea in his mind, he wanted to meet the executive of the Ministry of Health. Under the circumstances, Professor T.I.M. Abdullah-Al-Faruq and Professor M. A. Majid met the then health secretary Mr. Sayed Manjurul Islam with Michael Hollands in the Bangladesh secretariat in early 2015.
The 3rd MoU was between SOSB represented by Professor Moudud Hossain Alamgir, the then president of SOSB and BCPS represented by Professor S A M Golam Kibria, the then president of BCPS and ACS represented by Michael Hollands, MD, FACS, Region XVI Chief of ATLS and K Brasel, MD, FACS, International ATLS course Director on 2nd March, 2015.
A cadre of Bangladesh ATLS faculty was produced by sending a group of Surgeons and an Anaesthetist to JPN Apex Trauma Centre in New Delhi, India to attend an ATLS Provider Course on 20-22 August, 2015, and Instructor Course on 24-25 August, 2015.
Subsequently instructor candidates from the preceding 02 courses were sent to JPN Apex Trauma Center again to teach a Provider course between July and August, 2016 and they were elevated to full instructor status. This occurred during the tenure of Professor Md. Sanawar Hossain as the President of BCPS.
The funds for the purpose of overseas training of the above faculties were procured from the Ministry of Health of the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Thus we started the ATLS program in our country with a pool of 05 instructors only. They are as follows:
All our country faculties attended the 10th Edition update of ATLS Manual in 2018 at King George's Medical University, Lucknow, India where Kimberly Joseph from ACS was the leading person to update the 10th edition of ATLS manual.
Mr. Mohammad Kamal Hossain was sent to India as an ATLS Coordinator Candidate in December 2018. He qualified to be the first ATLS Coordinator in Bangladesh.
The final and the last of the series of MoU was between BCPS represented by Professor Kanak Kanti Barua, the then President of BCPS and SOSB represented by Professor Md. Zulfiqur Rahman Khan, the then President of SOSB and ACS represented by Sharon Henry MD, FACS, International ATLS Chair on the 3rd March, 2019.
It was followed by promulgation of the maiden ATLS provider course and back to back instructor course in Bangladesh by our country faculties and visiting international faculties from region XVI countries. They were Gilberto Leung (Hong Kong), Mahesh Chandra Misra (India), Jagdish Menon (India), Amit Gupta (India), Zayabalaradjane Zayapragassarazan (India), Scott D'Amours (Australia), Ms. Debora Paltridge (Australia), Lesley Dunstall (Australia), and Andre Das (Malaysia).
Sharon Henry (Chairman Committee on Trauma, Faculty ATLS Program, ACS, USA) also was one of the faculties in the above instructor course. Alexandra Hutchens (Region Coordinator, Trauma Program Education, ACS), and Katie Strong (ACS) were here in Bangladesh on this occasion.
Later on after the promulgation of ATLS program in Bangladesh in 2019 Ms. Shabitri Rani Chakraborty Matron in National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedic Rehabilitation (NITOR), obtained a course Coordinator status through the usual process as set by COT, ACS.
Professor Khondker Manzare Shamim was elevated to the status of an educator in 2023 while Professor (Brig Gen) Md Ahsan Habib was an educator candidate. Subsiquently he was elevated to the status of an Educator in 2024 and has been working as such ever since.