The Asian Conference on Emergency Medicine (ACEM 2019) Concludes its 10th Edition in India

Asian Conference on Emergency Medicine (ACEM 2019) concludes its tenth edition at The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel, New Delhi. Witnessing its first in India, the three-day event was organised by Asian Society for Emergency Medicine (ASEM) and the Society for Emergency Medicine India (SEMI). The congress was attended by some of the most eminent personalities known for their contribution in India as well as across the world in the sector of healthcare and emergency medicine.

With the epicentre of the event being Affordable care, Bridging gaps, and Creating Impact (ABC), the conference highlighted the interactive and dialogue-driven sessions teeming with case-studies, productive solutions and valuable insights from national and global Emergency medicine experts. The aim was to bring unbridled access to best practices and innovations in the field of trauma, emergency and acute care medicine from different emergency care ecosystems from all over the world.

Over 2100 delegates participated in the pre-conference workshops and the scientific sessions in the tenth edition of ACEM. The scientific program was thoughtfully crafted by the Scientific Committee comprising of doctors Srinath Kumar T S, Imron Subhan, Dina Shah, Asit Misra and Suresh Gupta; featuring 32 thematic sessions covering 228 topics relevant to Emergency Medicine. Supplementary to these, there were parallel sessions like Keynote Presentations, Plenary Sessions, Extended Poster Presentations, Clinical Simulation Competitions and Exhibitions, which further showcased the consistently varied patterns and evolution in the field of emergency medicine.

The event was also graced by President ASEM, Prof Yildirey Create; Founder President, ASEM, Prof V Anantharaman; Executive Chairman, SEMI, Dr K Hari Prasad; President SEMI, Dr Sateesh Kailasam; President of International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM), Prof James Ducharme; Founder President, IFEM, Dr Gautam Bodiwala; Past President, IFEM, Prof Peter Cameron; Past President, IFEM, Prof Lee Wallis; Past President of American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), Dr Paul Kivela; President European Society for Emergency Medicine (EUSEM), Prof. Luis Garcia-Castrillo and other global experts.

Dr Hari Prasad, President SEMI, said “Emergency medicine is the speciality of the current century. Earlier there were basic MBBS doctors without the required skills. We started emergency medicine training programs with the help of the US and the UK faculties and institutions because they were far more advanced than us. But over a period of time, we understood that what works really well in other countries may not fit in our culture and society so we Indianised a lot of what we get from these places and made sure that it is practical, workable and do-able here. We are happy that in the last 20 years significant progress has been made. Today we have the Medical Council recognising this speciality.”

The tenth edition of ACEM served as a salient platform to discuss the evolution of emergency care and medicine by highlighting various topics like future of emergency medicine, Burn Outs and Preparedness, Cutting Edge Resuscitation Science, Economics of Emergency Care to name a few.

Speaking at the concluding ceremony, President-elect of ASEM and organising chair of ACEM 2019, Dr Tamorish Kole, said, “We are delighted to have had the opportunity to host the 10th edition of ACEM in India. It was truly enriching to have so many stalwarts of the medical profession gracing the event. The conference provided a great platform to exchange information and way forward on emergency medicine with some of the best minds coming together and throwing light on the subject. Even though Emergency Medicine is relatively new in our country, through this conference we aim to take it to newer heights and familiarise the masses about this speciality in a big way.” He was ably supported by Dr Sanjay Jaiswal, President SEMI-Delhi, organising co-chair and Dr Ankur Verma, VP SEMI-Delhi, organising secretary of ACEM 2019 in the planning, strategizing and implementation of the numerous elements that went behind organizing this mega event.

The three-day conference drew together the world’s leading emergency physicians and med-maestros from 32 countries for the first time in India. The concluding ceremony was further enhanced by honourable Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare who also stressed upon the strengthening of emergency care in India.