The idea of a personal tragedy leading to something that’s to the advantage of the society isn’t limited to fiction. At least, that’s what the story of how Advanced Trauma Life Support(ATLS) came into being shows:

• The year 1976 turned out to be tragic for Dr.Jin Styner. In that year, the American orthopedic surgeon crashed a small plane on a Nebraskan cornfield
• While Dr.Styner sustained severe injuries, his wife was killed in the crash. 3 of the couple’s 4 kids were critically injured
• But the care they received at the local hospital was far from adequate. In the doctor’s own words, “When I can provide better care in the field with limited resources than what my children and I received at the primary care facility, there is something wrong with the system, and the system has to be changed.”
• The experience spurred Dr. Styner to produce the initial ATLS course, thereby setting a new standard of care in the first hour after trauma
• In 1980, the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma adopted ATLS and started disseminating the same across the world

Image credits: wikimedia.org

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