Prevention of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

In May 2006, former U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, in conjunction with the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, hosted the Surgeon General's Workshop on Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT). The goal of this meeting was to raise awareness about DVT and Pulmonary Embolism (PE) and identify new areas of research related to venous biology, DVT, PE, their complications, and clinical interventions. At the end of the workshop, Dr. Carmona charged the participants with developing a Surgeon General's Call to Action on DVT and PE, with the goal of reaching out not only to all health professionals (including physicians, nurses, paramedics, emergency medical teams, and others involved in treating this multifactorial disease), but also to the public at large to create greater aware ness of and demand for appropriate prevention and treatment of DVT.