About the Author

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George Velmahos, MD, PhD, is Division Chief of Trauma, Emergency Surgery, and Surgical Critical Care at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA. He has been Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School since 2004, having previously been Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Southern California. Dr. Velmahos is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, and the American College of Critical Care Medicine. He is Chair of the Education Committee and a Member of the Executive Committee of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma. Alongside his clinical activities, Dr. Velmahos carries out research into traumatic injuries, shock and resuscitation, and bleeding control. He is the author or co-author of more than 250 publications, including four books and 40 book chapters.Elias Degiannis, MD, PhD, is Head of the Trauma Directorate at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa. He graduated in Medicine from the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and completed his training in General Surgery in the UK in 1984. In 1991 he was appointed Senior Lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand and Senior Consultant at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital. He became an Associate Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2001 and ad hominem Professor of Surgery in 2005. Dr. Degiannis is a member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, the American College of Surgeons, and the College of Surgeons of South Africa. He established a dedicated Trauma Unit in 2003 and has developed a special research interest in penetrating trauma. He has been decorated with the Silver Cross of the German Armed Forces for his contribution to the training of German military surgeons in penetrating trauma.Dietrich Doll, MD, PhD, is Vice Head of Surgery and Head of the Coloproctology Department at St. Mary's Hospital, Vechta, Germany. Dr. Doll is a board-certified general and visceral surgeon who also holds board certification in Proctology and Emergency Medicine and additional international qualifications in Disaster and Mass Casualty Medicine. He has previously worked as First Senior Consultant Surgeon and Vice Head of the Department of Visceral Surgery, Military Hospital Berlin and in the Department of Visceral, Thoracic, and Vascular Surgery at the Philipps University of Marburg, Germany. He obtained his Emergency Medicine Specialist Certificate in 2009 and in 2010 completed his Habilitation at the Philipps University of Marburg. Dr. Doll is a member of the editorial boards of various journals, including the Global Journal of Surgery, and is a reviewer for many leading journals.