Geriatric Emergency Medicine Special Interest Group
The IFEM Geriatric Emergency Medicine Special Interest Group was established in 2015. In many IFEM countries – on all continents — older people are the fastest growing demographic segment in the population. In all countries older patients are among the most complex, most vulnerable, and most resource-intensive of all ED patients. There is a growing awareness that care of older ED patients represents an identifiable sub-specialty within the practice of EM. The GEM SIG brings together clinicians, researchers, and educators who have a specific focus on improving care of older ED patients. We are a coalition of the willing and if you are interested in being involved, please contact the Chair, Don Melady (Canada) via the Secretariat.
We promote Geriatric Emergency Medicine through:

1. Australia
Prof. Peter Cameron
[email protected]
Dr Michelle Withers
[email protected]
Dr Judy Lowthian
[email protected]
Dr Guruprasad Nagaraj
[email protected]
Dr Julie Considine
[email protected]
Dr Paul Simpson
[email protected] Australia
Dr Linda Schnitker
[email protected]
Dr Linda Ross
[email protected]
Dr Ogilvie Thom
[email protected]
Dr Jenny Love
[email protected]
Dr Len Gray
[email protected] Australia
Dr Elizabeth Marsden
[email protected]
Dr Glenn Arendts
[email protected]
Nemat Alsaba
[email protected]
2. Argentina
Dr Dario Eduardo Garcia
[email protected]
3. Canada
Dr Audrey-Anne Brousseau
[email protected]
Dr Michael Bullard
[email protected]
Dr Don Melady
[email protected]
Dr Debra Eagles
[email protected]
Dr Brittany Ellis
[email protected]
Dr Marcel Emond
[email protected]
Dr Jacques Lee
[email protected]
Dr Andrew Costa
[email protected]
Dr Patrick Archambault
[email protected]
Dr Eric Mercier
[email protected]
4. Chile
Dr Oscar Navea
[email protected]
5. Costa Rica
Dr Alejandro Moya Alvarez
[email protected]
8. India
Dr Srinath Kumar
[email protected]
Dr Imron Subhan
[email protected]
Dr Rishal Rahman
[email protected]
9. Japan
Dr Shoji Yokobori
[email protected]
10. Malaysia
Dr Nik Rahman
[email protected]
Dr Chung Wai Mun
[email protected]
Dr Mohd Idzwan bin Zakaria
[email protected]
11. Peru
Dr Sayuri Enriquez
[email protected]
12. Mexico
Dr Diana Lemus
[email protected]
13. Netherlands
Dr Simon Mooijaart
[email protected]
14. New Zealand
Dr Paul Quigley
[email protected]
15. Singapore
Dr Colin Ong
[email protected]
Dr Foo Chik Loon
[email protected]
Dr Vivian Siu
[email protected]
16. Sweden
Dr Fredrik Sjöstrand
[email protected]
17. Switzerland
Dr Christian Nickel
[email protected]
18. Thailand
Dr Jiraporn Sri-On
[email protected]
19. Turkey
Dr Murat Çetin
[email protected]
20. United Kingdom
Prof Suzanne Mason
[email protected]
Dr Jay Banerjee
[email protected]
Dr Simon Conroy
[email protected]
Dr Rose Galvin
[email protected]
21. United States of America
Dr. Chris Carpenter
[email protected]
Dr Kevin Biese
[email protected]
Dr Ula Hwang
[email protected]
Dr Michael Stern
[email protected]
Dr Jeffrey Caterino
[email protected]
Dr Tess Hogan
[email protected]
Dr Shusen Sun
[email protected]
Dr Luiz Hargreaves
[email protected]
Dr Alexander Lo
[email protected]
Dr Michael Girardi
[email protected]
Australia and New Zealand
Dr Guruprasad Nagaraj
Australian College for Emergency Medicine
[email protected]
Canada
Dr Debra Eagles
Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians
[email protected]
Costa Rica
Dr Alejandro Moya
Asociacion Costarricense de Medicos Emergenciologos
[email protected]
China
Dr Patrick Leung
Hong Kong College of Emergency Medicine
[email protected]
Hungary
Dr Tamas Berenyi
Hungarian Society of Emergency Medicine
[email protected]
Malaysia
Dr Mohd Idzwan bin Zakaria
College of Emergency Physicians Academy of Medicine Malaysia
[email protected]
Peru
Spain
Dr Javier Martín Sánchez
Sociedad Española de Medicina de Urgencias y Emergencias
[email protected]
Dr Carles Ferre Losa
Sociedad Española de Medicina de Urgencias y Emergencias
[email protected]
Sweden
Dr Miriam Bernieri
Swedish Society for Emergency Medicine
[email protected]
Switzerland
Dr Christian Nickel
Swiss Society of Emergency and Rescue Medicine
[email protected]
Turkey
Dr Murat Çetin
Emergency Medicine Association of Turkey
[email protected]
United Kingdom
Dr Jaydip Banerjee
Royal College of Emergency Medicine
[email protected]
United States of America
Dr Mark Rosenberg
American College of Emergency Physicians
[email protected]
Vietnam
Dr Tran Quang Thang
Vietnamese Society of Emergency Medicine
[email protected]
The Geriatric Emergency Department Guidelines document is the product of two years of consensus-based work that included representatives from the American College of Emergency Physicians, The American Geriatrics Society, Emergency Nurses Association, and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.
The Silver Book is a collaborative response to a pressing need to address how older people are cared for over the first 24 hours of an urgent care episode.
This document is a policy of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) and relates to the recommended standards of care for older persons in the Emergency Department
Statement on Minimum Standards for the Care of Older People in Emergency Departments by the Geriatric Emergency Medicine Special Interest Group of the International Federation for Emergency Medicine.
This position statement represents the views of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine. This statement was approved by the ANZSGM Federal Council on 5 May 2015.
Personalized e-learning in Geriatric Emergency Medicine
Each of the six modules in this website is designed to provide in-depth knowledge about issues in geriatric emergency medicine to physicians working in Emergency Departments who want to provide optimal care to their older patients.
Geriatric Emergency Medicine podcast
GEMCAST is a Geriatric Emergency Medicine Podcast : A series of lectures on clinical topics to help physicians, trainees, nurses, and paramedics who take care of older adults particularly in the acute care setting.
The Portal Of Geriatric Online education
A comprehensive and free collection of expert-contributed geriatrics educational materials for educators and learners.
Acute Geriatric series published in Emergency Medicine Australasia
The Geriatric Emergency Medicine Special Interest Group (GEMSIG) fosters and promotes quality clinical care for older people in emergency departments throughout Australia and New Zealand.
British Geriatric Society blog
The BGS blog aims to presents issues relevant to people working to improve the health and care of older people. It will highlight the latest news and activities from across all the BGS campaigns, events, publications and activities as well as original articles commissioned by leaders in geriatric medicine.
The Portal Of Geriatric Online education
This is a consensus document developed by identified experts to set a minim of performance standards that all residents should be able to demonstrate by completion of residency training.
The basic courses are designed to improve your knowledge of the basic principles of geriatric emergency care with an emphasis on quality of care issues. The content is presented through questions, most of which are case-based.
Geriatric Emergency Medicine researchers are numerous and very productive. Here are a few recent and/or strong articles that changed and continue to improve care for older adults in the emergency department.
A controlled evaluation of comprehensive geriatric assessment in the emergency department: The Emergency Frailty Unit
Simon Paul Conroy, Kharwar Ansari, Mark Williams, Emily Laithwaite, Ben Teasdale, Jeremy Dawson, Suzanne Mason, Jay Banerjee
2013
Disseminating and sustaining emergency department innovations for older adults: good ideas deserve better policies
Alexander X.Lo and Kevin Biese
2017
Profiles of Older Patients in the Emergency Department: Findings From the interRAI Multinational Emergency Department Study
Leonard C. Gray, Nancye M. Peel, Andrew P. Costa, Ellen Burkett, Aparajit B. Dey, Palmi V. Jonsson, Prabha Lakhan, Gunnar Ljunggren, Fredrik Sjostrand, Walter Swoboda, Nathalie I. H. Wellens, John Hirdes
2013
Geriatric Syndromes Predict Postdischarge Outcomes Among Older Emergency Department Patients: Findings From the interRAI Multinational Emergency Department Study
Andrew P. Costa, John P. Hirdes, George A. Heckman, Aparajit B. Dey, Palmi V. Jonsson, Prabha Lakhan, Gunnar Ljunggren, Katrin Singler, Fredrik Sjostrand, Walter Swoboda, Nathalie I.H. Wellens, Leonard C. Gray
2014
Identification of older adults with frailty in the Emergency Department using a frailty index: results from a multinational study
Audrey-Anne Brousseau, Elsa Dent, Ruth Hubbard, Don Melady, Marcel Émond, Éric Mercier, Andrew Costa
2017
Risk stratification and rapid geriatric screening in an emergency department – a quasi-randomised controlled trial
Chik Loon Foo, Vivan Wing Yin Siu, Hou Ang, Madeline Wei Ling Phuah, Chee Kheong Ooi
2014
Paramedics assessing Elders at Risk for Independence Loss (PERIL): Derivation, Reliability and Comparative Effectiveness of a Clinical Prediction Rule
Jacques S. Lee, P. Richard Verbeek, Michael J. Schull, Lisa Calder, Ian G. Stiell, John Trickett, Laurie J. Morrison, Michael Nolan, Brian H. Rowe, Sunil Sookram David Ryan, Alex Kiss, Gary Naglie
2016
Geriatric-Specific Triage Criteria Are More Sensitive Than Standard Adult Criteria in Identifying Need for Trauma Center Care in Injured Older Adults
Chwan B, Darbha S, Shah M N, Thompson L, Evans DC, Boulger CT, Caterino JM
2015
Polypharmacy and potential drug-drug interactions in emergency department patients in the Caribbean
Darrent Dookeeram, Satesh Bidaise, Joanne F. Paul, Paula Nunes, Paula Robertson, Vidya Ramcharitar Maharaj, Ian Sammy
2017
Risk Factors and Screening Instruments to Predict Adverse Outcomes for Undifferentiated Older Emergency Department Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysi
Christopher R. Carpenter, Erica Shelton, Susan Fowler, Brian Suffoletto, Timothy F. Platts-Mills, Richard E. Rothman, Teresita M. Hogan
2014
december, 2019
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Expressions of interest are invited from individuals from IFEM Member organisations and individuals with an interest in GEM. Nominations by your organisation, or self-nominations by individuals within your organisation, should be forwarded to the IFEM Secretariat.