The 32nd Annual Congress of ESICM officially opened today at the CityCube in Berlin. At the #LIVES2019 opening ceremony, Jozef Kesecioglu, ESICM President, welcomed all participants. Prof. Kesecioglu offered his thanks to the ESICM team, office members and the executive committee members for their efforts during the last twelve months.
He then talked about the creation of a new section in the society – The Data Science Section. The mission of this section will be to promote technique and technology to improve outcomes by turning data into better care. The goals would be to provide education for clinicians, promote research into clinical applications, drive data sharing across Europe, and create a collaborative framework with other ICU professionals, data scientists, engineers, and other experts.
Prof. Kesecioglu then spoke about the various collaborations of ESICM. ESICM in collaboration with the European Society of Anaesthesiology has prepared a joint survey concerning patient safety - specifically preoperative risk assessment and the preparation of patients undergoing surgery. The results will be used to establish a joint position paper to be published and sent to EU institutions and health ministers of EU member states. The survey takes about only 3-4 minutes to complete.
He then spoke about ESICM's strong collaboration with the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM). Their 20-year collaboration continues via the Surviving Sepsis Guidelines (SSC) on recognition and treatment of sepsis. Prof. Kesecioglu also revealed that the SCCM has also initiated a special focus on data science and since the two societies have always collaborated strongly, it would be logical to join forces as the ESICIM has also launched its Data Science Section initiative.
Prof. Kesecioglu highlighted the steady increase of ESCIM members who now stand at around 9000 people with members primarily from Europe but also with a steady increase from Asia. There has also been a steady increase in female membership of ESCIM.
He spoke about NEXT, another initiative of ESCIM that helps young people advance their career through mentoring projects, training grants, and fellowships. The goal is to empower the young community of ESCIM.
He then discussed the many initiatives in education and research by ESICM as these are some of the society’s core businesses.
ICM is the official journal of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the European Society of Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care. It is considered to be a top-ranking critical care journal. Prof Kesecioglu thanked all the authors and the Editors in Chief Elie Azoulay and Giuseppe Citerio. He also thanked all other Associate Editors and Board of Reviewers for their effort.
He also spoke about APPIC, the first professional intensive care app designed for nurses, by nurses. The app is designed for nurses to help patients at the bedside. In addition, he talked about a new page especially for patients and families. The page provides information about intensive care, the role of ICU , and other practical information and useful resources for patients and families.
Prof. Kesecioglu spoke about ESICM’s dedicated task force and working groups tasked with drafting a policy paper and code of conduct for its members and the greater public. The objective is to ensure that all members of ESICM, regardless of their gender, gender identity, age, sexual orientation, race, culture, socioeconomic status, and multi professionalism are welcomed and respected and that opportunities are equal for every member within the society.
He disccused ALIVE, the ESICM fund that aims to support patient care across the globe and to help create international cooperation on education and health management in intensive care medicine. The ultimate goal is to transfer knowledge through educational and training initiatives so as to improve conditions and outcomes of critically ill patients.
President-elect, Maurizio Cecconi then took to the stage to award the 2019 Honorary Memberships to Prof. Mette Berger, Prof. Bertrand Guidet, and Prof. John Kellum for their outstanding contributions to the Society and the specialty of Intensive Care Medicine. Finally, the ESICM awarded the Society Medal to Prof Daniel De Backer for his outstanding contribution to both the Society and the specialty over the last many years. Prof. Backer has signed more than 300 articles and is linked to some of the most important research in the field of shock, sepsis, and microcirculation.
Source: Live Coverage of Opening Ceremony by ICU Management & Practice @ESICM in Berlin
Image Credit: ICU Management & Practice Live Coverage
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European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, #LIVES2019, @ESCIM, ESICM 2019 Berlin
The 32nd Annual Congress of ESICM officially opened today at the CityCube in Berlin.
