Presidential Address (2007-2009)
Prof. Dr Abu Hassan Asaari Abdullah
As the new President of Asian Society of Emergency Medicine, I would like to extend a warm gesture of friendship and co-operation to all members from Asian countries. I believe the Asian fraternity of Emergency Medicine, given the background of rich Asian values with genuine care for people, family and friends, will make way for the success of Emergency Medicine in Asia. I believe the brand of Emergency Medicine should be one that takes total care of holistic health and wellness of people, be they rich or poor, in or out of the hospital; in non-critical or critical situations and in calm or disastrous situations. The Emergency Medicine that we have been building will ensure care is there when needed.
The Asian Society for Emergency Medicine since it was inaugurated in Singapore 9 years ago on the 24th of October 1998 at the first Asian Conference on Emergency Medicine till the last one held in Kuala Lumpur in March 2007 had come a long way in an endless journey to elevate care of emergency situations further. In a span of almost a decade, the society had grown as the field of Emergency Medicine expands in breadth and width as the arts and sciences of this medicine progressed. During the last conference in Kuala Lumpur, the importance of branding was given emphasis in our quest to excel in this field of medicine.
The Branding of Emergency Medicine
There is a need to build the Emergency Medicine further and take it to great heights. For this, there is a need to take care of the "branding" of this medicine. "Brand" embodies the image of the practice of Emergency Medicine ¡V how do we want Emergency Medicine to be perceived. In creating the "branding" of this practice, the fraternity needs ask itself these questions: how well do we want this unique medicine to be practiced? How well do we want Emergency Medicine to deliver quality care to patients? What perception do we want people to have as regards this discipline? How do we want this discipline to be perceived by other specialties? The questions that we asked would guide us in terms of what are desired. We so much desire the Emergency Medicine that provides best medical care for patients with great care and sensitivity towards emotional, physical, mental and spiritual needs of patients. We desire the presence of healthcare provider soonest when needed. We desire Emergency Medicine that facilitates a great deal the subsequent management of patients in wards. We desire too that this field is perceived positively and appreciated both by the community and other specialties.
Holistic and Quality Care ¡V the branding of Emergency Medicine
As the fraternity aims to achieve the desired visions, there is a need to strengthen this new brand of Emergency Medicine with a holistic and quality care of medical practice. By the term of "holistic", it is defined as the practice of Emergency Medicine that embraces "total patient care" in principle and philosophy. The care should extend in terms of emotional, physical, mental and spiritual needs of patients and should not be simplistic but rather, incorporates holistic and extensive approach.
As regards "Quality Care" ¡V this incorporates the best arts and sciences of initiating medical management in the Emergency practice. Structures, resources and systems are built and formulated for best comfort and care for patients. Best evidences and practices are used in providing 1st class medical treatment in emergent needs.
This is what the Emergency Medicine brand should be: one that embraces holistic and quality Care. The Emergency Medicine that embraces totality and completeness of patient care. The Emergency Medicine that approaches all issues regarding patient care in highest quality care. With all these, Emergency Medicine becomes a brand that is highly respected and associated with total patient care.
Why the Success of Emergency Medicine is critical?
The success of Emergency Medicine matters as it is the medicine which caters for patients when it matters most. It is the front liner and the "face" of the medical community. Often too, the quality of the practice may make a difference between life and death. Emergency Physicians too are needed for effective pre-hospital care and disaster preparedness development and a good practice of emergency medicine can prevent and minimize damage and number of deaths
In this holistic and quality care brand of Emergency Medicine, we envision a pre-hospital care service that could reach people at a reasonable timing and efficiently transport the right people to the right place with the right time. We envision "smiling faces" waiting at the triage counter and caring doctors managing each and every patient. We envision reasonable waiting time for non-critical patients or great wait management system.
We envision that in the coming years there will be zero missed or misdiagnosis and zero complaints - zero defect medicine. Understandably, as stated in emergency medicine textbooks and realized in real practice this may be impossible to achieve but we should as much as possible aim to minimize them as much as possible. Good complaint management system should be in place. The practitioners too should always be ready for any disaster or mass casualty incidences. Apart from this, we envision too, the holistic and quality care with 1st Class resuscitation for collapsed patients. There should be widespread evidence-based practice of Emergency Medicine, up-to-date knowledge of initiation of immediate medical management and stabilization for all diseases and injury. The brand should encourage this discipline to produce world-class products of research and development which improves patient care significantly.
This is the brand of Emergency Medicine that we envision¡KA first class practice of Emergency Medicine with holistic and quality care Challenges Ahead for Emergency Medicine ¡V extending further the holistic and quality care
The world is changing and there are threats all around. The changing world is casting challenges to the practice of Emergency Medicine -outbreaks- the looming Pandemic Flu; the threats of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism are all real. Emergency Medicine plays a big role for preparedness. In recent times, there has been a sudden surge of interest towards disaster bordering on paranoia on the part of governments, communities and health organizations all over the world. Throughout the years, the size and frequency of terrorism has risen over the years without signs of slowing down. Emergency Medicine has to prepare for all possibilities. Emergency Medicine players have to update and prepare its capacity to cater for chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosion threats with Emergency Response Plans ensured to be in place, reviewed, updated and exercised. Planning for preparedness will be a skill to be sought after from Emergency Physicians. They need to provide their expertise in preparedness for CBRNEs, Mass Casualty incidents, Crisis Management and others.
Emergency Medicine: Moving Ahead
In moving ahead, Emergency Medicine is but an art and science which needs a lifetime of learning, relearning and even unlearning as the field's frontiers broadens. Emergency Physicians must practice shrewd clinical medicine with best evidence-based management. Technologies and related skills should be embraced in order to move forward. Emergency doctors too should champion issues on humanity, prevention, relief works, prevention efforts, trainings and produce papers on innovations and research.
Emergency Medicine is a critical success factor for a complete total healthcare system. A holistic approach which embraces total quality care is the way forward for a good medical system. The "rebranding" exercise for emergency medicine should be continuous. A continuous and unrelenting effort to uphold this brand of medicine will bode well for the community at large in Asia and people across the globe. This is the call that I would like to make to all practitioners of Emergency Medicine across Asia. Let us hope that this great specialty of medicine will be placed at a great pedestal in the eyes of both medical fraternity and people at large because of our undying efforts in advancing the arts and science of this medicine in our practice.
Professor Dr. Abu Hassan Asaari
President
Asian Society of Emergnecy Medicine
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