Message from the CEO: ABA Member Updates | March 2026

As March unfolds, there is a strong sense of connection and shared purpose across the burn care community. Over the past year, my conversations with members, board and committee leaders, and professionals across burn centers have reinforced something that defines this field: the strength of interdisciplinary teams working together in service of patients and families.

That same spirit of collaboration guides the work of the American Burn Association (ABA.)

In my March update, I reflect on the importance of trust, transparency, and shared responsibility within ABA and highlight several initiatives currently underway, from advocacy and national partnerships to education and planning for the 2026 ABA Annual Meeting in Orlando. 

As I approach my first year serving as CEO of the American Burn Association (ABA), I have spent a great deal of time listening to members across the burn care community, to board and committee leaders, and to the many professionals whose work supports patients and families every day. What continues to stand out most is the extraordinary strength of the interdisciplinary teams that define burn care. 

In a burn center, professionals from many disciplines come together, including surgeons, nurses, therapists, psychologists, administrators, and others.  Each of you brings expertise and accountability to a shared mission: providing the best possible care for the patient. 

The ABA should reflect those same principles. 

To do so, the ABA must be grounded in trust, transparency, and shared responsibility, with members confident that leadership decisions are made thoughtfully, communicated clearly, and always in service of advancing burn care and supporting the professionals who deliver it. In any professional organization, there will be different perspectives and healthy debate. But what ultimately sustains trust is a shared understanding of the mission and a commitment to working together toward common goals. 

Across our field, the symbol of a bell carries powerful meaning. For firefighters, it is the alarm that calls them into service. In burn centers, patients often ring bells to celebrate resilience and mark milestones in recovery. For the ABA, the unveiling of the ABA Bell represents something equally meaningful: the responsibility of leadership and stewardship for the future of burn care. 

A single ring of the bell represents the individual expertise each member brings to the burn community, including surgeons, nurses, therapists, researchers, administrators, and many others who dedicate their work to caring for patients and advancing the field. 

When the bell rings twice, it represents the moment when those individual strengths come together as a team. In many ways, that second ring symbolizes the ABA itself, a community of professionals working together, across disciplines and institutions, to strengthen burn care and improve outcomes for the patients and survivors we all serve. That shared mission is reflected in the many areas of work currently underway across our association. 

ABA 2026 Annual Meeting – Strong Momentum 

Interest in this year’s ABA 2026 Annual Meeting in Orlando continues to be exceptionally strong. Hotel reservations are already approaching capacity, underscoring the strength and engagement of this community. While it creates a few logistical challenges that our team is actively addressing, it is ultimately a very positive signal of momentum in the burn care field. 

If you are planning to attend and have not yet secured your accommodation, I encourage you to do so soon.  Some have asked when the ABA 2026 App will be available. That launch date is Wednesday, April 1. So, keep an eye open for that message so you can start planning your sessions. 

We are also looking forward to two outstanding plenary sessions that will anchor the meeting: 

Wednesday: Everett Idris Evans Memorial Lecture Awardee Plenary Session 
Professor Odhran P. Shelley, Director of the National Burns Unit at St. James’s Hospital in Dublin and Clinical Professor of Surgery at Trinity College Dublin, will bring a truly international perspective on the future of burn care. His work has strengthened burn systems and training programs across multiple countries, and we look forward to welcoming him to the ABA community. 

Thursday: Presidential Plenary Keynote Session 
Dr. John Holcomb, one of the leading voices in trauma surgery and military medicine, will serve as our keynote speaker. Throughout his career, he has played a critical role in advancing trauma system development, resuscitation science, and national preparedness. His perspective on trauma systems and coordinated emergency care is particularly relevant to the burn community as we look ahead to the future of disaster response and integrated systems of care. 

Learning from Leading Burn Programs

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to spend time with Dr. Howard Smith at the Orlando Health Warden Burn Center, where we recorded a conversation about the evolution of burn care and the importance of multidisciplinary coordination. 

The Warden Burn Center at Orlando Health is one of only a handful of ABA-verified burn centers in Florida and serves as the only verified burn center in Central Florida. The program operates within Orlando Regional Medical Center’s Level I Trauma Center and reflects the type of integrated trauma and burn system that is becoming increasingly important in modern healthcare. 

🎥  [VIDEO] Watch my conversation with Dr. Smith.   

Many in our field also recognize Orlando Regional Medical Center for its extraordinary response to the Pulse nightclub tragedy in 2016. The hospital’s coordinated response demonstrated the critical importance of prepared trauma systems, interdisciplinary teamwork, and rapid decision-making during mass casualty events. The lessons learned from that response continue to inform national conversations about disaster preparedness and coordinated care systems. 

During ABA 2026, attendees will have the opportunity to tour the Warden Burn Center at Orlando Health and see firsthand the infrastructure and team-based approach supporting one of the region’s leading burn programs. 

✅ You can register for the tour using this link.  

Advocacy, Workforce Development, and Strategic Partnerships

Advocacy work also continues to expand. 

The ABA recently joined a national coalition of medical and scientific organizations supporting strong federal investment in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) research, reinforcing the importance of sustained biomedical funding for lifesaving science. We have also submitted a response to the U.S. Department of Education regarding federal discussions affecting the healthcare workforce and training environment.  

Ensuring that the burn care community and the professionals who deliver this care every day have a voice in national policy discussions remains an important priority. 

At ABA 2026, we will also announce a new partnership with the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN) to support professional development and leadership within the nursing workforce. Through this collaboration, Certified Burn Registered Nurses (CBRN) will have opportunities for scholarship support as they pursue advanced education and training. 

At the same time, we are interviewing Washington, D.C.–based advocacy firms to evaluate long-term strategic partnerships that can strengthen ABA’s presence in federal policy discussions. Our goal is to identify the right strategic partner to help advance ABA’s advocacy “North Star,” ensuring that burn care is represented in national conversations around reimbursement, disaster preparedness, research, and workforce policy. 

Strengthening Burn Research

Another important area of focus is the exploration of a long-term research endowment to support the future of burn science. During the Annual Meeting in Orlando, we will begin conversations with members, philanthropic partners, and research leaders to explore pathways to build a sustainable research funding platform that supports investigators and collaborative science across the burn care continuum. 

Burn Nursing Scope & Standards Update

I also want to highlight an important milestone for the burn community: the updated ABA Burn Nursing: Scope & Standards of Practice 2025 edition.  

Burn nurses play a critical role across the entire continuum of burn care, from initial resuscitation and critical care through rehabilitation and long-term recovery. The updated scope reflects the evolving complexity of burn care delivery and helps define the competencies and leadership roles of burn nurses within multidisciplinary teams. 

I want to thank the ABA Nursing Committee and the many nursing leaders across our community who contributed their expertise to this important work. 

🎥  Watch this video from Gretchen Carrougher, MN, RN, CBRN, about this new edition. 

Looking Ahead

Across all these efforts, education, advocacy, research, prevention, and national partnerships, the common thread is strengthening the role of the burn community as both a clinical leader and a trusted national voice. 

The ABA has long served as a convener for expertise, collaboration, and leadership across this field. The work happening today is about ensuring we continue to build on that foundation while preparing for the future of burn care. 

I look forward to connecting with many of you in Orlando in the month ahead. 

Thank you for your continued commitment to the burn community and to the patients and survivors we all serve. 

With appreciation, 

Ed Dellert, RN, MBA, CAE, FACEHP
Chief Executive Officer
American Burn Association