Page 5 - Journal of Special Operations Medicine - Fall 2015

was a liaison to the Board of Regents, and, most re- He developed the McSwain Trauma Education Project,
cently, served as the liaison for the National Association an endowed education for EMS providers who cannot
of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT). In collabo- afford to travel to the large EMS educational programs
ration with NAEMT and COT, he founded PreHospital for continuing education.
Trauma Life Support (PHTLS). The methods developed
are widely regarded as the world standard for trauma An inspiration to several generations of trauma and emer-
care outside hospitals. PHTLS has trained more than 1 gency care professionals, Dr McSwain is the only physi-
million providers in 64 countries since the first course in cian in the history of ACS to receive all five major trauma
New Orleans in 1983. As the champion of PHTLS and awards: in 1989, he won the Meritorious Service Award
the NAEMT, his work set the stage for the modern ver- from the Advanced Trauma Life Support’s Committee on
sion of Tactical Combat Casualty Care. Trauma, in 1998, he won the National Safety Council’s
Surgeon’s Award for Service to Safety, in 2000, he won
Immediately following the active shooter disaster at the the Committee on Trauma’s Millennium Commitment
Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecti- Award, in 2001, McSwain was named both a Scudder
cut, Dr McSwain agreed to be a founding member of the Orator and won the Committee on Trauma’s Meritori-
Committee to Develop a National Policy to Increase Sur- ous Achievement Award for state or provincial chairs.
vival from Active Shooter and Intentional Mass Casualty He has earned every honor the ACS COT and NAEMT
Events. He brought the dedication, passion, and intellect bestows and received the NAEMT award that now bears
for which he was famous to the Hartford Consensus delib- his name—the Dr Norman E. McSwain Jr PHTLS Leader-
erations. He fiercely advocated for an organized coordi- ship Award. In addition, his awards include the Award of
nated prehospital response that incorporated hemorrhage Excellence from the Kansas Emergency Medical Train-
control by immediate bystander responders, a change in ing Association (1977); the President’s Leadership Award
focus of the mission of law enforcement to include imme- from the National Association of Emergency Medi-
diate stopping of life-threatening hemorrhage of victims, cal Technicians (1980); the NAEMT “Deke” Farrington
and an urgent response by emergency medical personnel Award of Excellence (1983); President’s Award from the
to treat and transport trauma patients to the appropriate National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians
trauma hospitals. He recognized that time was a critical (1984 and 2000); the Distinguished Achievement Award
factor in patients who had massive bleeding. from the American Trauma Society (1993); the Virginia S.
Furrow Award from Tulane University School of Medicine
Dr McSwain served the US Air Force where he earned (1998); the Rocco Morando Award for Lifetime Achieve-
the Air Force Commendation Medal. He was also a re- ment in EMS from the National Association of Emer-
tired US Navy Captain, including serving in the Persian gency Medical Technicians (2002); AARP the Magazine
Gulf on the USNS Comfort where he earned a Citation Award (2005); the National Public Health Hero Award
for Outstanding Performance as a general surgeon dur- from the University of California-Berkeley’s School of
ing Operation Desert Storm from the US Naval Forces Public Health (2006); the Spirit of Charity Award (2008);
Central Command (1991). He was board certified in gen- Distinguished Lectureship Award from the Society
eral surgery; certified by the National Registry of EMTs of Trauma Nurses (2008); the CAPT Frank K. Butler Jr
as an EMT-Paramedic; certified as a hyperbaric physician Award for Outstanding Contributions to Tactical Combat
by the International Society of Aquatic medicine; and a Casualty Care (2008); and the Order of Military Medi-
member of the American Association for the Surgery of cal Merit (2012) among numerous other awards and
Trauma, the American College of Emergency Physicians, achievements.
the American Surgical Association, the Association for
Academic Surgery, and the Committee on Tactical Com- Dr McSwain has co-authored 37 books and 420 journal
bat Medical Care and the Trauma and Injury Committee articles, authored 116 book chapters, delivered 900 pro-
of the Defense Health Board. He was one of the found- fessional presentations, and earned more than 50 pro-
ers of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma fessional awards.
(EAST), the first (and only) ad hoc chairman of Advanced
Trauma Life Support (ATLS). He sat on the editorial As a certified scuba diver since the early 1970s, he was
board for Journal of Trauma, Comprehensive Therapy, one of the original founders of the International Society
Emergency Medicine, Emergency Care Quarterly, Pre- of Aquatic Medicine (ISAM) and logged more than 1800
hospital and Disaster Medicine, and Trauma Chronicle dives.
and served as an editor or editorial consultant for six
separate publications. His Tulane Trauma Educational He is survived by his daughter, Merry Johnston McSwain;
Institute trains EMTs at Tulane University, runs the Rural his sister, Ann McSwain Kightlinger, and her husband,
Trauma Development Course throughout Louisiana, cur- Neal; and his niece and nephew, Janelle K. Eason and
rently trains Navy Special Warfare Medics and SEALS. David Kightlinger (Shannan).

Dr Norman McSwain iii