Skip to content

ATLS Advanced Trauma Life Support

ATLS Advanced Trauma Life Support logo
ATLS is a global course, teaching a systematic process of trauma care for patients with life-threatening injuries.
 
Throughout this two-day interactive course, you will learn a range of comprehensive and adaptable trauma management skills relevant to all specialities.
 
The Royal College of Surgeons of England is the only provider of ATLS in the UK, teaching a safe and reliable method of immediate management of severely injured patients. The ATLS programme has been adopted in over 80 countries around the world.
 
After attending this course, you will be able to:
 
  • Demonstrate the concepts and principles of the primary and secondary patient assessments.
  • Establish management priorities in a trauma situation.
  • Initiate primary and secondary management necessary for the emergency management of acute life-threatening conditions in a timely manner.
  • In a given simulation, demonstrate the skills related to ABCD which are often required during the initial assessment and treatment of patients with multiple injuries

Course structure and programme
 
The format of this hybrid course includes a state-of-the-art and interactive e-learning tool which will enhance your learning experience and reduce the number of days attending the practical sessions from three to two. The pre-course e-learning is a mandatory requirement for this course and must be completed by 7am the day before the face-to-face course. It will take approximately 20-30 hours to complete.
 
Before the course, you will be required to complete the pre-course e-learning consisting of an overview chapter, 13 modules and quizzes, and pre and post-module MCQs. It takes approximately 1-2 hrs to complete each module and may take up to 30 hrs to complete the e-learning. Full completion of the e-learning is a mandatory requirement to attend the course. Participants who have not completed the e-learning in full by 7am the day before the course will not be allowed to participate in the course and will forfeit their course fee.
 
Course participants will receive access to the pre-course e-learning resources on the RCS VLE via notification with login details four weeks before the course at the latest.
 
Course participants are also required to read the ATLS participant course manual in full to prepare for the assessments on the course.

Assessment and Certification

You will be assessed throughout the course and must pass all assessed sessions to pass the course and be awarded ATLS provider status.
 
There are interactive sessions and clinical scenario stations and your performance of practical skills and contribution to discussions which test participants’ core knowledge will be assessed throughout these sessions.
 
On the final day of the course, you will take an MCQ test consisting of 40 questions with a pass mark of 30/40. If you are unsuccessful on the course you can take up to two resits within three months of the course. You will not be given your answer sheet or told which questions you answered incorrectly. Reading the ATLS participant manual prior to the course is the best preparation for the MCQs - there are no lectures in the face-to-face component of the course; you must arrive with a high level of clinical knowledge.
 
Moulage assessment will also take place on the last day of the course. You will be given a simulated clinical scenario and you will be assessed on the initial assessment and management of a patient according to objective assessment criteria. If you are unsuccessful in your first attempt on the course you will be given the opportunity to repeat the moulage assessment on the course using a different scenario. If unsuccessful, at the course director’s discretion, you might be given a final resit on another course.
 
If you have not met the minimum standard to pass the course you will not be given the opportunity to re-sit failed sessions and you will have to successfully complete another provider course to gain ATLS provider status.
Last updated14 Jul 2025