Our respected and very engaged EUSEM member Kasia Hampton is helping in Ukraine in any way she can. The two projects below need help with several materials and vehicles. Please have a look at the lists and see if you can help in any way.

1. In-hospital (Khmelnytsky, more peaceful area)

I am a volunteer with Khmelnytsky City Children’s Hospital. An amazing hospital, totally underfunded and under-resourced, but with a very dedicated team. They do their best with what they have and they are super eager to learn more. We are working on their POCUS skills, since they don’t have a CT scan or MRI in house. So great ultrasound skills are vital in their case. They also don’t have a few other very useful things. With that I was hoping you could help us find some things, even used but still usable:

• C-Mac videolaryngoscope with reusable blades of different sizes (or equivalent);
• Reusable flexible fiberoptic laryngoscope;
• Cart-based, laptop type ultrasound devices; 
• Sterile sleeves with sterile gel for ultrasound-guided central venous access and other sterile procedures;
• Mucosal atomization devices for intranasal medication delivery;
• EZ-IO drills and needles (or an equivalent system)

2. Pre-hospital (Kharkiv, hot zone)

My second project is entirely prehospital and it consists of assisting a team from Kharkiv in trying to build out their TacMed Evacuation capability. Here we are looking for the following items:

• 4-wheel drive vehicles, used ones of course - buying new ones is pointless in this area, that can be repurposed as tactical medical evacuation vehicles. This requires them to have a way to place the patient in supine position. Classic ambulances are out of question, because they are being targeted and shot at. We have actually even thought of funeral cars, in the hope of distracting the Russian invaders
• Basic ambulance equipment such as monitoring devices, oxygen tanks, and all the consumables (syringes, IVs, etc)
• Lightweight-evacuation stretchers, soft stretchers in dark, poorly visible colors
• They also need an ongoing supply of TacMed supplies such as tourniquets, combat gauze, chest seals, needles for PTX drainage, bandages and alike. 

You can respond to via email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

REGISTRATION IS OPEN!

This refresher course is taking place from 29 November till 1 December in Milan. The programme is developed by and for young doctors working in the ED (<36 years) and EM trainees. A small selection from the workshops:

• Airway management in critically ill patient
• Human factors and Group Dynamics
• Procedural Boot Camp

This is a great way to meet and learn from your international peers. 

Check the webpage to find all the details on the programme and registration.

READ THE BROCHURE

The Young Doctors section of EUSEM is calling for elections for the position of Fellowship Programme Lead.

The young doctors Fellowship programme is meant to offer traineeships in different formats, all over Europe to be able to learn, exchange ideas and relate to your European peers. The YEMD section has been busy with the development of a Fellowship Programme for a couple of years now. The pandemic had put everything to a hold. Now we are looking for a new Lead to continue where we left off.  

Please look at this document describing eligibility and responsibilities. After successful completion you will receive a free registration to the EUSEM Congress in the following year.

If you are up for it, please fill in these 2 templates and send them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Motivation letter

Curriculum Vitae

The submission deadline is August 12!!

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a prolonged increase in workload and stress among specialists in many healthcare sectors, but this has been particularly noticeable in emergency medicine (EM). A survey carried out by the European Society of Emergency Medicine (EUSEM) among EM professionals in 89 countries showed that 62% of the responders had at least one symptom of burnout syndrome¹, and 31.2% had two. Results from the survey are published today in the European Journal of Emergency Medicine².

The paper shows that the chronic problems faced by EM specialists, such as understaffing, limited resources, overcrowding, and lack of recognition have been greatly exacerbated by the pandemic.

“The level of burnout found means that these healthcare workers deserve professional clinical evaluation and support. Worryingly, less than half of responders to the survey (41.4%) reported having access to such psychological support, either face to face or at a distance,” said EUSEM President Dr Abdo Khoury, from the Department of Emergency Medicine and Critical Care, Besançon University Hospital, Besançon, France.

 “Burnout in healthcare professionals may lead to alcohol and drug abuse, and even suicide. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is another common manifestation of burnout, and this can have devastating long-term consequences for the individual.”

Also disturbing is the finding that many of those affected by burnout were thinking of a career change and that this was more prevalent among younger professionals than those who were older and more experienced. This would necessarily lead to understaffing, at least in the short term, and would only make matters worse for those who remain

“An EM worker who is overworked under stress will have a negative effect on patients too,” said Dr Khoury. “Burnout can show itself in a distant or indifferent attitude to work, as well as reducing productivity and efficiency. It can lead to lower-quality care and an increase in medical errors.”

EM specialists have been first-line responders during the pandemic, providing triage of patients in extremely difficult and pressurised circumstances where, additionally, the spread of infection must be prevented. The need to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) and the resulting fear of being infected themselves has been a supplementary burden that may still be insufficiently recognised.

“Healthcare authorities quite rightly put patient satisfaction and well-being at the top of their priority list. Yet the overwhelming evidence is that medical professionals have unmet needs too, and that these are growing exponentially. An important social determinant of health is the exposure - or the lack of it – to stressful living conditions. It would be difficult to find a group of people who were more subjected to stress during the pandemic than EM specialists,” say the paper’s authors.

“EM specialists have shouldered a particularly heavy burden and are suffering as a result. Urgent measures to reduce burnout and therefore to encourage those thinking of leaving the profession to reconsider are needed. Many interventions have been shown to be effective in decreasing burnout, and we were disappointed to see how few appear to be being implemented at present. The pandemic has shown how essential they are,” they conclude.

(ends)

1.Burnout syndrome is caused by unmanaged chronic workplace stress. It manifests itself in a lack of energy or exhaustion, increased mental distance from the job, and feelings of job-related negativity or cynicism.

2 Paper: https://journals.lww.com/euro-emergencymed/Abstract/9900/Burnout_in_emergency_medicine_professionals_after.16.aspx

Editorial: https://journals.lww.com/euro-emergencymed/Citation/9900/Burnout_syndrome_in_emergency_medicine__it_s_time.17.aspx

Further information: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For EM Day we conducted a survey with the objective to evaluate the level of burnout in the different professionals of emergency medical services. Based on the results a scientific paper and an editorial were written and published in the European Journal of Emergency Medicine.

Read the paper here

Read the editorial here

This joint statement by the European Society for Emergency Paediatrics and European Academy of Paediatrics aims to highlight recommendations for dealing with refugee children and young people fleeing the Ukrainian war when presenting to emergency departments (EDs) across Europe.