In Ohio during the late 1980’s, the trauma nurse coordinators were the first to meet and officially organize. It was while attending several of those meetings, that a vision arose: gather those responsible for the collection of trauma information in a forum where we could share ideas on how to better accomplish the job responsibilities, ask questions, and learn from one another. During a conversation with the leaders of the trauma nurse coordinator’s group, the idea was put forth and enthusiastically supported to establish a statewide registrar support group known as Alliance of Ohio Trauma Registrars (AOTR).

The founder of the Alliance of Ohio Trauma Registrars was Kathy (Jenkins) Cookman who at the time was the trauma registrar for Riverside Methodist Hospitals in Columbus, Ohio. Special recognition goes to Kathy Haley, Trauma Program Manager of Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio and Joyce Schmidt, Trauma Coordinator at Riverside Methodist Hospitals, for being supportive of the vision.

The AOTR (Alliance of Ohio Trauma Registrars), through collaboration with one another realized a need for a ‘resource manual’ to assist new registrars with understanding their objective in performing the job as a trauma registrar. Thus, the development of the manual was crafted to guide all those involved in the care of the trauma patient.