18th International Conference on Emergency Medicine

Over 2700 participants from 72 countries participated in this year’s International Congress on Emergency Medicine (ICEM) in Seoul, South Korea in June 2019. Over 4 days, there were almost 1100 presentations while participants had the opportunity to share resources, research, knowledge, experience, and fellowship. Innovative sessions such as the Pediatric Marketplace and the Geriatric Marketplace, a leadership development session and, of course, the Mass CPR Parade to bring attention to bystander CPR. Teri Reynolds MD gave the George Podgorny Lecture ‘Potential Contribution of Emergency Care to Health Systems.’

In addition to hosting the Pediatric EM Marketplace, IFEM's Pediatric Emergency Medicine Special Interest Group (PEMSIG), in conjunction with the Korean organizing committee planned a series of Pediatric EM topics curated to appeal to the broad range of academic interests of the international participants. Topics included risk management, airway, shock, child abuse, head injury, asthma, toxicology and telemedicine. They also officially released the third updated revision of the Standards of Care for Children in Emergency Departments.

The Quality and Safety Special Interest Group reported on their recently published Updated Quality Framework, a document focusing on what patients should expect from an Emergency Department, enablers and barriers to quality care, crowding, and quality indicators.

These documents are available free, along with many other IFEM publications, on the website and will be translated into other languages soon.

James Holliman MD, FACEP, a longtime member, leader and mentor of the ACEP Section on International Emergency Medicine was celebrated with IFEM’s most prestigious honor, the Gautam Bodiwala Lifetime Leadership Achievement Award. Lisa Moreno-Walton MD, FACEP was also inducted as a Fellow of the International Federation for Emergency Medicine. Several other ACEP members attended, including many in leadership positions. ACEP International Relations Manager, Faeeza Faruq and COO, Bobby Heard were on hand at the ACEP booth to continue to promote ACEP membership and our conferences as well as providing support to the IFEM.

The ICEM is the annual conference of the International Federation for Emergency Medicine. ICEM2020 will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina June 15-18, 2020.

Elizabeth Devos and Camilo Gutierrez