HE the Minister of Public Health Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari was among the attendees at the opening ceremony of the fourth World Academic Congress of Emergency Medicine (WACEM 2018), held in Doha recently.
Running until Sunday under the theme ‘Bridging Gaps and Building Networks in Trauma, Emergency and Acute Care Medicine: Best Evidence and Practice from Academic Systems’, the conference is a collaborative initiative between Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Trauma Center, Emergency Medicine Department, and Ambulance Service and is being held under the leadership of WACEM and the Indo-US Health and Medicine Collaborative (INDUSEM).
“Demand for emergency medical care in Qatar has continued to rise, with the number of calls for ambulances and the volume of patients using our emergency departments and trauma service increasing each year. We have made, and continue to make, major investments in our emergency and trauma care services. The new trauma and emergency facility will quadruple the existing space at the Hamad General Hospital Emergency Department and provide greater capacity to care for patients,” said al-Kuwari.
HMC has opened four new emergency departments this decade – at Al Wakra Hospital, The Cuban Hospital, Heart Hospital, and Women’s Wellness and Research Center – while also significantly expanding its main Paediatric Emergency Center in Al Sadd. Earlier this year, Sidra Medicine opened its Children’s Emergency Department, treating serious emergency conditions for children up to the age of 18. This expanded capacity has enabled the health system to meet the rising demand seen at emergency departments in recent years; since 2010, the number of emergency visits across HMC has increased by 60%.
HMC’s national Ambulance Service has also experienced a major increase in demand, with the service receiving more than 250,000 calls in 2017. To meet this demand, the Ambulance Service has introduced an advanced ambulance fleet and expanded its LifeFlight air ambulance service, while consistently meeting its National Health Strategy response time targets.
Prof Sagar Galwankar, chair of the World Academic Council of Emergency Medicine, gave the first keynote speech of the opening ceremony. He commended the quality of care provided by HMC’s emergency and trauma services and highlighted how the international accreditations that have been attained across multiple service areas endorse the quality and safety of care delivered to patients.
Dr Hassan al-Thani, secretary general of WACEM 2018 and head of the Trauma and Vascular Surgery Sections at HMC’s Hamad General Hospital said, “Since opening 10 years ago, the Hamad Trauma Center has played a central role in advancing care for severely injured patients in Qatar. The Center has become the anchor of Qatar’s national trauma system, which provides comprehensive care for trauma patients, including pre-hospital care, emergency care in the trauma center, and rehabilitation services.”
The conference brings together more than 1,500 local and international healthcare professionals to discuss the full spectrum of emergency medicine topics.
Following two days of pre-conference workshops, the main conference program was led by more than 100 local and international speakers who delivered workshops and presentations on a wide range of emergency medicine topics.
The conference also features a dedicated exhibition zone with more than 20 healthcare exhibitors showcasing the emergency medical care they provide.
