We begin another new year since the pandemic started. Here in the UK the days become lighter and longer as the dark, grey winter changes and I see new growth of grass and flowers. 

They are resilient to winter. A bit like emergency physicians, really. Survivors of harsh environments.

While the pandemic was / is harsh, I do enjoy that we have all learned to seamlessly share a virtual online stage with colleagues. I’ve joined in recently with the Emergency Medicine Association of Turkey in how to grow paediatric emergency medicine skills, participated in the inaugural conference of the South Asian Collaborative for Emergency Medicine and heard incredible stories of countries growing EM from nothing to something already strong, in no time at all.

I was invited to share stories and understand root causes of over-crowding with a themed meeting of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians. As we know, over-crowding costs lives and causes staff burnout and losses. I wish to say a big thank you to all of you who have worked hard on this campaign. Also to our regional societies who have taken it on vigorously. The campaign continues – please amplify via your social media and other contacts. Use hashtags #NoMoreLivesLostWaiting and #ResetEmergencyCare

On May 27^th each year we now support the European Society of Emergency Medicine on their “EM Day Campaign”. This year’s theme is patient safety, so we are collaborating to seamlessly flow from the IFEM global campaign against over-crowding to EuSEM’s international EM Day campaign. On February 28 at 14:30-16.00 UTC and March 2, 2023 9:30-11.00 UTC IFEM will host summits on over-crowding, sharing stories and strategies. Look out for more information on our social media feeds.

IFEM is also very pleased to announce formation of a new Public and Environmental Health Special Interest Group, which covers all aspects of what I would call “population medicine”. Our co-Chairs are Dr Alejandro Baez and Dr Lai Heng Foong.

Don’t forget that early bird registration ends on March 13^th for the ICEM 2023 conference in wonderful Amsterdam, with the theme “building bridges” (perfect for a city on water). I hope to see some of you in person, either in Amsterdam or at the the 12^th (biannual) Asian Conference on Emergency Medicine, April 28-30 in Angeles City in the Philippines.  

Dr Ffion Davies
IFEM President