The Long Road Ahead: Past Experience, Present Planning, and Future Considerations

This will be my last newsletter as the Chair of the ACEP Disaster Medicine Section.  Thank you for entrusting me with this opportunity to steer the section over the last two years.  It has been an honor to serve you.  This time has brought many great people into my life.  I am impressed by those who step up to make the world a better place in the face of so much distress.

As a section, I feel that we have come far and will continue on a sound trajectory under our new leadership.  We had very successful participation in the ACEP 50^th anniversary and were able to demonstrate cutting edge technology for disaster medicine education and collaborate with the pediatric section at the virtual reality experience booth.  For the last two years, we participated in the austere medicine joint section meetings which have brought together four ACEP sections.  Our “Just in Time” resources denoted expert assistance during the 2019 Tornado and flood outbreak in Midwest, Alaska Earthquake and potential Tsunami, Dorian, and California Wildfires in 2018 and 2019.   The new liaison to the telemedicine section, James Phillips is now seeking means of integrating telemedicine into disaster medicine operations, to better our response capabilities.

The niche groups will continue to connect people of similar interests, promoting collaboration, education and the specialty.  Multiple leaders have stepped up to guide the groups and share resources on the ACEP website.

Please contact me if you would like to serve as a niche group leader for one of the following groups: burn injuries, disaster mitigation, informatics & telecommunications & social media in disasters, nuclear & radiation events, surveillance & patient tracking, or urban disasters.  Also if you have any idea for another niche, reach out to me.

This year at Scientific Assembly the Disaster Section will collaborate with the Wilderness Medicine Section in the ACEP X-TREME precon.  This combined section event will take place Saturday, October 26^th from 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM at the City Park in Denver.  There has been a very high demand to participate in this inaugural event, organized by Lillian Lockwood and registration is now full.

During our meeting at SA 2019, we will announce the results of our section’s election.  In this historic first, our election votes have already been cast electronically, which makes for a much more inclusive voting process.   We have also co-sponsored a resolution for the 2019 Council meeting: High Threat Emergency Casualty Care.

A gentle reminder to stay involved in your section.  Like the Facebook page and post to it (Learn More Here).  Enter forum discussions in ACEP’s EngagED.  Consider publishing an article in the section’s newsletter.  Join a niche group.  Come to the section meeting at Scientific Assembly.  Reach out to me and the incoming Chair with your ideas and expertise.

Thank you for the great things that you do each and every day!

Best regards,

Henry Curtis, MD, FACEP, FAAEM
Clinical Assistant Professor
Department of Emergency Medicine
Stanford University School of Medicine