Lenworth Jacobs is a trauma surgeon at Hartford Hospital, a professor of surgery, and a professor of traumatology and emergency medicine at the University of Connecticut. Jacobs graduated from the University of the West Indies Medical School in 1970 and received his surgical training at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston and at University and Boston City Hospitals. He received a Master of Public Health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health.
Jacobs became the director of emergency medical services for the city of Boston and the Trauma Center at Boston City Hospital in 1976. In that role, he designed and implemented the Basic and Advanced Life Support Prehospital Service for the city of Boston. He then moved to Hartford Hospital, where he implemented the LIFE STAR Air Medical Service and started the hospital’s trauma center. He later inaugurated a new Department of Traumatology and Emergency Medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.
Jacobs is the chair of the Hartford Consensus, Joint Committee to Increase Survival from Active Shooter and Intentional Mass Casualty Events, leading to the implementation of the Stop the Bleed program, which is in 120 countries and has trained more than 1.5 million people. He is currently on the board of regents of the American College of Surgeons and formerly served on the executive committee of the Governors of the American College of Surgeons. He is a past director of the American Board of Surgery; a founder and past president of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST); past vice president of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST); past president of the American Trauma Society; and a member of the Defense Health Board, which advises the U.S. secretary of defense on health affairs.
Jacobs has lectured extensively in the U.S. and around the world. He has more than 250 publications, including numerous books and book chapters. He is the founder of the Advanced Trauma Operative Management course and the editor of the ATOM textbook, which is available in 73 sites in the U.S., Canada, Africa, the Middle East, Japan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Italy and Brazil. ATOM has trained more than 5,400 surgeons.
Jacobs was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) degree by the Council and Senate of the University of the West Indies. He was awarded an honorary fellowship in the West African College of Surgeons and received the Connecticut American College of Surgeons Distinguished Service Award. Jacobs has also been recognized by his peers for his contribution to the surgery of trauma and has been the recipient of the Meritorious Award of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma. The American College of Surgeons, American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, and National Safety Council presented him with the Surgeons’ Award for Service to Safety. Jacobs received the Dr. Norman E. McSwain Jr. PHTLS Leadership Award for contributions and continued commitment to the care of the injured patient especially to their pre-hospital care. The governor of Connecticut presented him an award for dedicated service to the state of Connecticut, and he was awarded the Bigelow Medal by the Boston Surgical Society for contributions to surgery of the greatest value.