Clinical policies are documents developed to assist clinical decision-making.
They are intended to facilitate combining the large volume of knowledge available from both the medical literature and from expert opinion into strategies helpful in diagnostic, management, and resource utilization decision-making. Clinical policies are developed using a specific strategy.

Vision: To lead the development of clinical policies in emergency medicine.
Mission: To improve the care on the emergency medical setting, facilitating decision making.
Values: Quality of the recommendations, open to participation, and team work development.

Core members
Said Laribi
Adela Golea
Franco Apra
Luis Garcia-Castrillo

The clinical policy process:
1. Topic selection and definition
2. Literature search
a. Using databases Pubmed, Chocrane, Web of Science, Embase.
3. Appraisal of the literature
a. Using the GRADE methodology
4. Writing the Clinical Policy
5. Spreading by using the EUSEM Web page, EUSEM scientific meetings
6. Updating

Policy in development:

Next action:

How to collaborate:
Get in contact for participation in the development of new policies or proposing new topics.

Contact: Luis Garcia-Castrillo Riesgo, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

One of the EUSEM’s major goals is to promote and facilitate good clinical research in Emergency Medicine and in particular multi-centre clinical trials and surveys.

On these pages we will publish about current research projects, collaborative projects, surveys and working groups.

CURRENT PROJECTS AND WORKING GROUPS

OUR RESEARCH PROJECTS ON ED REGISTRIES

• Working conditions project

ED's are demanding work environments.

Working conditions affect the health of providers and patients. Negative working conditions result in stress related diseases and high provider drop out rates.

With this project we want to:

1. determine the current state of provider working conditions and well being in Ed's across European states and
2. find national solutions or suggestions for intervention and improvement approaches for ED working conditions and provider well being?

Please check this powerpoint presentation to see all available information. For any inquiries please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

• Project RAMPED

Project RAMPED (Resource Administration and Management of Patients in the Emergency Department) has the aim to create a training network for young researchers (Innovative Training Network -ITN) within the field of Emergency Medicine with focus on Emergency Department (ED) crowding.

The Project is currently eager to recruit Partners for this European PhD training network within Emergency Medicine and focusses on the challenges we face in the Emergency Departments throughout Europe.

The project consists of multiple work packages with the goal of addressing the challenges of increased patient influx and crowding in European emergency departments. In addition to focusing on developing scientific and medical skills, RAMPED will focus on personal development, not only for the Early Stage Researchers (ESR), but for mentors and the research teams. RAMPED plans to collaborate with providers that will give the candidate, which take part in a program, training in developing their human skills and personal carrier.

Would you like to participate in this project? Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and answer the following questions:

• What would you like to see from this project?
• Would you like to host a PhD candidate?
• What may your institution offer a PhD candidate (hosting, courses, rotations, internship)? What are you good at?
• What other disciplines/professions do you believe it would be beneficial include for the project?
• Based on the preliminary project draft and information given in this email, within which work packages would you like to participate/conduct a study/studies?

• European survey on Emergency Medical Systems

  The aim of this survey is to get a better understanding of the national Emergency Medical Systems (EMS) across Europe and learn about the differences and similarities. This will be the starting point for any recommendation to reach the highest standards of emergency medical response.
  
  The results are being processed right now. They will be made available in the near future.

• Pan-European Emergency Medicine Database

  This project is exploring the feasibility of developing a Pan-European database of emergency department presentations. Such a database would establish evidence-based commonalities and differences in presentation patterns and clinical trajectories internationally. This epidemiology would lend itself to improved collaboration in many areas including treatment guidelines.

  In order for such a project to generate meaningful data two key features must be addressed:

  1. Understanding emergency medicine management in each country: how European ED's function and are staffed, how they receive and register patients digitally as well as how patients are assessed clinically will ensure any anonymous data extracted is comparable.
  2. Establishing commonalities in how patient complaints are recorded: Emergency medicine is quite unlike other specialties in that the patients complaint rather than a specific diagnosis dictates why, when and where consultations happen. As such, establishing a person-centered language of complaints will be key to subsequent clinical accuracy.

  To this end, we have been processing data from more than 30 countries to establish qualitative parameters and collecting initial quantitative sample data in early 2020.  Please find the PowerPoint of the project presented in Prague Oct 2019.

• Survey on child abuse detection in the ED, collaboration with AUGEO

  This survey aims to get insight into the different policies to recognize child abuse at the emergency departments (EDs) in Europe. We like to learn from the different strategies at EDs and aim to develop a combined strategy for early detection (screening) and e-learning customized for different settings. At the moment the survey is closed, but at this website you can read about the collaboration and the survey.
  https://www.augeo.nl/en/training-medical-professionals/survey-detection-of-family-maltreatment-at-the-eds

• Syncope project

  Aims of the Syncope group
  1. Creating an algorithm to identify low risk patients for outpatient management.
  Through patient descriptions can be decided who to send home.

  2. Write a position paper for publication in EJEM on T-LOC Management in ED.
  
  3. Research
  First step: observational multicenter study describing T-LOC management in EDs in Europe.

  Second step : European interventional study on T-LOC management in the ED using an algorithm to identify low-risk patients suitable for outpatient management. Expanding to as many European EDs as possible. 

  4. Half a day pre-course on T-LOC management for the EUSEM congress in Copenhagen 2020. 
  
  Read the foundation document here. 

• EuroDEM/AANZDEM

  The EUROpean Dyspnea survey in EMergency Departments Study (EURODEM)
  The Asia, Australia, and New Zealand Dyspnea in EMergency Departments Study (AANZDEM)
  112 EDs (66 Europe and 46 South East Asia/Australasia)

• EGERS

  European Geriatric Emergency Departments Registry Study (EGERS)
  How many geriatric patients present to the ed and with what complaints
  This study is planned for October 2020.

• EUROPEAN PAIN INITIATIVE SURVEY

  EUSEM European guidelines are developed for the management of acute pain in emergency situations.
  

Working groups

• EUSEM-EFMI started a working group to advance the digital transformation of emergency departments throughout Europe.
  Read the press release here
  Read the project presentation given in Prague, 2019

• Working group Digital Emergency Medicine

Pending projects

• Pan‐European study on Quality of care provided to children in ED
• EuroUTI Project ‐ European Urinary Tract Infections in EDs
• Delirium Recognition in European EDs 
• Blood sampling

Managing Acute Heart Failure in the ED – Case Studies from the Acute Heart Failure Academy

In 2013, an expert group of international leaders in emergency medicine and acute heart failure (AHF) convened to establish the AHF Academy. The Academy’s goal is to improve patient outcomes through the provision of high quality, tailored and balanced education to increase the understanding of AHF in the emergency setting. As each of the Academy members highly values direct patient care, our initial efforts led to the creation of case studies.

These case studies are intended for non-promotional, illustrative and training purposes only and are accurate at the time of release. They should not replace clinical judgement. The cases may include information on investigational uses of compounds/drugs that have not been approved by regulatory authorities. As laboratory test results vary depending on local practice, assay type and test manufacturer, please refer to the standard reference ranges provided. Furthermore, abnormal results are highlighted in bold text with additional information on specific test results provided in the footnotes.

Each outstanding case has been created solely by an individual Academy member. Additional members of the AHF Academy then peer-reviewed each case to ensure accuracy and completeness. Novartis Pharma AG supported the AHF Academy meetings and editorial assistance which was provided by CircleScience (an Ashfield Company, part of UDG Healthcare plc).

We believe these cases will improve the early management of AHF in the emergency care setting.

PLEASE NOTE: THE CASES ARE IN A POWERPOINT SLIDE SHOW FORMAT AND ARE INTERACTIVE. NO AMENDMENTS TO THE DOCUMENTS ARE PERMITTED.

Batch 1 (released Nov 2015):

Download introduction

Download case 1 (Philip Levy) (updated 14 Jan 2016)

Download case 2 (Philip Levy)

Download Case 3 (Martin Möckel)

Download Case 4 (Martin Möckel)

Download Case 5 (Peter S. Pang)

Download Case 6 (Peter S. Pang)

Batch 2 (released April 2016)

Download case 7 (Héctor Bueno) – Advanced heart failure patients with low blood pressure (systolic blood pressure 80mmHg)

Download case 8 (Sean Collins) – Normotensive acute heart failure

Download case 9 (Salvatore Di Somma) – Flash pulmonary edema with high blood pressure

Download case 10 (Deborah Diercks) – Acute heart failure with troponin release (but not acute coronary syndrome)

Download case 11 (Veli-Pekka Harjola) – Atrial fibrillation with de-novo acute heart failure

Download case 12 (Judd Hollander) – Acute heart failure caused by acute coronary syndrome (non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction)

Download case 13 (Ekaterini Lambrinou) – Decompensated heart failure

Download case 14 (Òscar Miró) – Acute heart failure with worsening renal function identified at presentation

Batch 3 (released May 2016) 

Download case 15 (Salvatore Di Somma) Atrial fibrillation complicating and precipitating acute heart failure in patients with chronic heart failure

Download case 16 (Deborah Diercks)  Dilated Cardiomyopathy and acute systolic chronic heart failure exacerbation with methamphetamine intoxication

Download case 17 (Alasdair Gray) Acute heart failure with low blood pressure (< 90mmHg)- known chronic heart failure patient with advanced heart failure and known low ejection fraction

Download case 18 (Veli-Pekka Harjola) Atrial fibrillation with RVR de novo acute heart failure

Download case 19 (Ekaterini Lambrinou) De novo acute heart failure

Download case 20 (Oscar Miro) Acute heart failure triggered by anaemia

Our warmest regards,

Martin Möckel (MD, PhD, FESC, FAHA) and Peter S. Pang (MD, MSc, FACEP, FAAEM, FAHA, FACC)

Acute Heart Failure Academy

NextGenU

We are delighted to announce a new, globally available Emergency Medicine clerkship. It is free, and created in partnership with the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, and with the world’s first free university, NextGenU.

This course is an introduction to Emergency Medicine, intended to provide the knowledge needed for a month-long EM rotation for clinically-prepared medical students, residents, or practicing physicians. All components of this training (like all NextGenU.org training) are free, including registration, learning, testing, and a certificate of completion.

For more information, go to NextGenU.

Links to resources and information on the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa (last updated 22 October 2014)

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)

Ebola outbreak in West Africa:

http://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/Pages/home.aspx

Rapid Risk Assessment (13/10/2014):

http://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications/Publications/ebola-sierra-leone-liberia-guinea-nigeria-spain-14-10-2014-risk-assessment.pdf

European Commission – Public Health

http://ec.europa.eu/health/ebola/index_en.htm

Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF)

http://www.msf.org/article/ebola-crisis-update-16th-october-2014

Public Health Ontario

Ebola virus disease

UK – College of Emergency Medicine

Ebola guidance for Emergency Departments

US – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Clinician resources:
http://emergency.cdc.gov/coca/calls/2014/index.asp

Ebola outbreak info:
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/index.html

World Health Organisation (WHO)

WHO website:

http://www.who.int/en/

WHO Global Alert and Response (GAR) – Ebola:

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/en/

• Blood sampling guidelines (June 2024)
• ISTH Guidelines for Treatment of Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura
• Guidelines for the management of acute pain in emergency situations (March 2020)
• Recommendations on Informed Consent for European Emergency Departments for Adults and Children (21 January, 2020)
• EUSEM rules for Authorship (13 October, 2019)
• Guidance for domestic abuse & violence in the ED (2019)
• ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of syncope (2018)
• EUSEM Guideline on End of Life Care in the Emergency Department (September 2017)
• A consensus statement on Sonography in Hypotension and Cardiac Arrest (SHoC) Protocol (November 2017)
• The Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (Sepsis-3)(JAMA, Feb 2016)
• Mass shooting incident resources (last updated 16 December 2015)
• EUSEM Policy on conflict of interest issues (March 2015)
• Guide on the decision-making process regarding medical treatment in end-of-life situations (Council of Europe, May 2014)
• Ebola resources (Last updated October 2014)

In Europe the specialty of EM has made remarkable progress during the last twenty years. In 2001, the European Doctors’ Directive on the recognition of professional medical qualifications included only the UK and Ireland as recognising the specialty; more recent Directives (European Directives 2005/36/EC and 2006/100/EC) list nine EU nations under the heading of ‘Accident and Emergency Medicine’, the name by which EM was formerly known in the UK and Ireland.

On 16 January 2019 a European Commission Delegated Decision (EU) 2019/608 has amended Annex V to Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council in regards of the evidence of formal qualifications and titles of training courses. So far 16 European countries have recognised Emergency medicine as s specialty requiring a minimum training period of 5 years. You can find the text here of the Decision.

So far 33 countries in Europe have implemented a five-year training programme as required by the Doctors’ Directive or have a 4 year programme or developed a 2-3 year programme for training in EM as a supra-specialty. Find the overview here.

European medical specialties are represented in Brussels by the Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes (UEMS), a non-governmental organisation promoting quality and standards of training with the purpose of harmonising care and promoting free movement of doctors within the EU. Emergency Medicine is represented in the UEMS by a Multidisciplinary Joint Committee and by the European Board of Emergency Medicine (link to EBEEM).

The recommended content and format of a Core Curriculum for EM were previously published in this journal in December 2002. This document was discussed by the UEMS MJC(EM) and it was decided to revise and enlarge the curriculum to reflect developments in the specialty and recent educational principles. EUSEM therefore established a Task Force with a representative from each of the national societies included in the Federation at the Fourth European Congress on Emergency Medicine in September 2006. Roberta Petrino (Italy) served as chairman and the group was composed of 18 members from different countries.

The first meeting of the Task Force was held in Novara, Italy, in February 2007, followed by four further meetings up to April 2008. The final draft of the curriculum was the main agenda item at a MJC(EM) meeting in Brussels the following month.

The fundamental first statement of the Curriculum is the distinction of the specialty of EM from the emergency medical care which is within the province and expertise of medical practitioners in many other specialties. It confirms the EUSEM Policy Statement that EM is ‘…a medical specialty based on the knowledge and skills required for the prevention, diagnosis and management of urgent and emergency aspects of illness and injury affecting patients of all age groups with a full spectrum of undifferentiated physical and behavioural disorders. It is a specialty in which time is critical’. The essential features of a clinical specialty include a unique field of action, a defined body of knowledge and a rigorous training programme. EM has a unique field of action, both within the emergency department and the community, and the revised curriculum document incorporates both the relevant body of knowledge and associated competencies, but also establishes the essential principles for a rigorous training programme.

After the Curriculum was completed it was presented to the EUSEM Council, to the Council and to the MJC(EM) of UEMS with requests for amendments and approval. It was officially accepted as a EUSEM document during the Fifth European Congress on Emergency Medicine held in Munich in September 2008. The spirit of multinational cooperation which enabled this complex document to be developed and agreed within a period of just 15 months reflects the harmony which links emergency physicians across Europe.

The main objective of the Curriculum is to serve as a guide and a standard for all European countries seeking to train future emergency physicians.

Read the latest version of the Curriculum here  (version 2.0, March 2019)

and have a look at the European Training Requirements, European Standards of Postgraduate Medical Specialist Training

Older versions of the curriculum

Amended 2nd version of Curriculum April 2017

2nd version of Curriculum April 2009

1st version of Curriculum 2002

European Doctors’ Directive 2006

Curriculum German

About our Journal 

The European Journal of Emergency Medicine is the official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine.

It is devoted to serving the European emergency medicine community and to promoting European standards of training, diagnosis and care in this rapidly growing field.

Published bimonthly, the Journal offers original papers on all aspects of acute injury and sudden illness, including: emergency medicine, anaesthesiology, cardiology, disaster medicine, intensive care, internal medicine, orthopaedics, paediatrics, toxicology and trauma care. It addresses issues on the organization of emergency services in hospitals and in the community and examines postgraduate training from European and global perspectives. The Journal also publishes papers focusing on the different models of emergency healthcare delivery in Europe and beyond. With a multidisciplinary approach, the European Journal of Emergency Medicine publishes scientific research, topical reviews, news of meetings and events of interest to the emergency medicine community.

Submitted articles undergo a preliminary review by the editor. Some articles may be returned to authors without further consideration. Those being considered for publication will undergo further assessment and peer-review by the editors and those invited to do so from a reviewer pool. ​

For more author information read here

If your EUSEM membership includes access to the journal click here 

New members receive their EJEM number via email from the publisher after the next issue of the Journal has been published.

Suggestions and recommendations for potential EJEM peer reviewers are always welcome and should be directed to the Editorial Office in London at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Editor-in-Chief

​​​​​​​​​​​​Editor
Professor Yonathan Freund
Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière
Service d’Accueil des Urgences
83 Boulevard de l’Hôpital
Paris 75103
France
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Editorial Board

EUSEM’s main objective is the harmonisation of professional levels in Emergency Medicine throughout Europe. In order to achieve this goal, a wide variety of educational activities are in progress and many more are set to be launched.

The standards of competence and knowledge for European Emergency physicians are clearly described in the European Curriculum and may be achieved with the specialty of Emergency Medicine or with specific training programmes in Emergency Medicine. EUSEM aims to offer and endorse continuing education through modular courses, web-based clinical educational content, clinical policies and Guidelines and the European Journal of Emergency Medicine.

Latest accomplishments

EUSEM Academy

Since COVID, EUSEM felt very responsible to share experiences from the field and learn from each other. That's why we have organised many webinars in three different COVID tracks: European updates, Clinical and Paediatric. All webinars and accompanying documents are on the Academy free accessible for everyone. Please have a look and share. 

If you are logged into the Academy with your MyEUSEM account, you have some extra functionalities. You can rate & comment the content and ask questions in the forum.

The educational platform holds much more content from EUSEM Congresses in the form of webcasts and eLearning modules. We work continuously to develop content to put on the platform, like guidelines, documents and more eLearnign modules. Slowly it will be developed into a platform that covers the complete curriculum with education material. 

All EUSEM members have free access to the platform. You can login with your EUSEM account.
Congress Participants have access to the content from that specific Congress.
There is free access content for the people that don't have an account yet. 

The platform is also available as an app for Apple and Android, but since the platform is responsive, we recomment to use the website.

Fellowship Programme

In december 2019 we opened registrations for the Fellowship Programme. On the Fellowship Platform you'll find hosting institutes all around Europe that offer traineeships in all shapes and sizes for young professionals under 35 or physicians in EM specialist training. More news on the experiences of the first trainees will be shared.

Webinar

We are about to organise our first webinar in 2019 for educational purposes. If it turns out as a succes we will use this tool more offen. 

Curriculum+,

A document based on the European curriculum with educational sources per subject. This is a useful handle for the EBEEM candidates and everyone interested in Emergency Medicine.

We have big plans for Curriculum+. The objective for 2020 is to change it into an interactive platform, where people can rate, give feedback and add material. We are in the developing stage.   

Also a document on the European Training Requirements is available since last year on the website of UEMS. Check it out

Please check the table of contents in the blue box to see what more we have to offer in the field of Education.

GERIATRIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE in Europe

Emergency Medicine is implemented as a primary specialty in many countries in Europe and all over the world. Current pre-hospital, emergency department, and in-hospital services are typically configured around identifying single problems for direction through the most suitable ‘pathway’. Attention towards the more complex needs of older people having frailty remains low, despite them representing the most vulnerable and most rapidly expanding group of our population. 23 of the world’s 25 “oldest” countries are here in Europe.

Geriatric emergency medicine (GEM) draws on the specialist competences of both parent specialties, with practitioners attentive both to complexity and acuity. The emergence of this new subspecialty is reinforced by recent advances in research, training, and guidelines.

The mission of this EUSEM section is to develop GEM. Crucial to this is the collaboration between members within the EUSEM group and also with the corresponding section of the European Geriatric Medicine Society (EuGMS). Combined, these two groups form the European Taskforce on Geriatric Emergency Medicine (ETGEM). ETGEM currently has three broad working groups for initiatives in education, quality, and research.

To receive updates, please contact the section chairs (links below right) or register for the ETGEM newsletter on www.GeriEMEurope.eu

OBJECTIVES

• To propose guidelines and spread existing guidelines relevant to older people in pre-hospital care and emergency departments
• To develop guidance on educational and service delivery programmes to improve care of older people in emergency departments
• To develop collaboration with other societies active in influencing care of older people in emergency departments, including the European Union Geriatric Medicine Society (EUGMS) and the International Federation for Emergency Medicine
• Collaboration with geriatric emergency medicine chapters of other European and international organisations to propose quality improvement and clinical research studies on older people in the pre-hospital and ED settings
• To consult, deliberate and provide guidance on definitions, scope of practice and terms of reference of geriatric emergency care in emergency departments
• To define the emerging subspecialty of Geriatric Emergency Medicine (GEM) for member European countries

EDUCATION

The principal goal of the section is to implement educational programmes on GEM for clinicians and allied health professionals.

• Workshops on GEM during EUSEM congress
• Joint session during the EUGMS congress
• Representation of GEM in the European EM Curriculum
• Educational media including a podcast series

Quality

The working group will:

• Review and revise guidelines specifically related to the care of older people in pre-hospital and EDs
• Publish a European book on GEM
• Identify quality indicators for GEM
• Collaborate with EM societies from North America and IFEM to bring a global vision on GEM

RESEARCH

The working group will:

• Publish a strategy for European GEM research
• Contribute to the scientific programme at EUSEM and EuGMS conferences
• Collaborate with societies from North America and IFEM to develop the GEM evidence base