7th Emirates Critical Care Conference highlights latest innovations in critical care and technology

(Dubai Health & News) -- Under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance, President of Dubai Health Authority and the patron of the Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences, His Excellency Qadhi Al Murooshid Director General of Dubai Health Authority opened the 7th Emirates intensive care conference (ECCC) at InterContinental Hotel in Dubai Festival City that was held from 21-23 April 2011.

The three-day conference was also held in conjunction with the 3rd Asia Africa Conference of the World Federation of Societies of Intensive Care and Critical Care Medicine (WFSICCM) and the 7th International Pan Arab Critical Care Medicine Society (IPACCMS) Congress.

The conference was organised by the Emirates Intensive Care Society (EICS) and the International Pan Arab Critical Care Medicine Society (EICS) and supported by the Dubai Health Authority and Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences.

Conference Highlights:

Al Murooshid highlighted the importance of the conference during his opening speech and extended his gratitude to His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and President of the DHA for sponsoring the conference and for his direction under which Dubai has been able to advance the level of health services and expertise of its medical professionals.

He said: “The convening of this conference is of particular importance, because it brings together international and national experts in the field of critical care to and provides them with a platform to discuss state-of-the-art information to help improve the standard of critical care provided to patients.

The DHA has always paid great emphasis to this field because we realize the importance of management of such cases and thus the DHA has built various Intensive Care Units( ICU’s) across its hospitals, where we have trained personnel, state-of-the-art medical equipment and this has helped us reduce our mortality rates in ICUs from 60 per cent to 35 per cent, which is less than the international bench mark of 40 to 50 per cent.”

Dr Hussain Nasser Al Rahma, the President of the 7th Conference of Emirates Intensive Care Society, President of the International Pan Arab Critical Care Medicine Society , Chairman of the Emirates Intensive Care Society and head of ICU, Dubai Hospital, said that the field of critical care is of great importance to help alleviate the suffering of trauma patients.

Dr Al Rahma said, “Critical care is a fast advancing speciality and is dependent on highly skilled professionals, latest technology and integration of services to achieve the best patient outcomes and to lower mortality rates.

Dubai is currently the benchmark in this region and one of the leaders in critical care, we have the latest equipment and skilled medical staff and we strongly focus on training students and faculty in this field.”

He highlighted that Dubai Hospital is equipped with the latest non-invasive medical equipment that helps gauge the complete status of patients and immediately identifies what is wrong with the patient. “Such sophisticated equipment and highly skilled staff have helped us provide internationally recognised levels of care to patients and has reduced the risk of mortality in our ICU’s”

Al Rahma said that although Dubai is a benchmark in terms of critical care, the field is ever changing and therefore holding such conferences which brings together esteemed healthcare professionals including 50 Presidents from various critical societies the world over is of significant importance.

Dr. Al Rahma said that the conference objective was to discuss ways of dealing with emergency cases in intensive care units in all medical specialties, such as kidney diseases, respiratory diseases, neurological diseases and brain injury.

Moreover, during the three-day conference, Dr. Edgar Jimenez, the President of WFSICCM conducted a demonstration in communication with Orlando Hospital campus in the United States directly through the Internet.

He demonstrated the use of an automated doctor, known as Robodoc, which basically evaluates patients through the use of high speed internet. The system helps diagnose the patient, review his results and even follow-up the case.

This automated doctor is called Robodoc and is considered one of the innovations of Dr. Jimenez, and is used in more than 12 U.S. states, many American university hospitals as well as in many hospitals in Japan, Korea, Indonesia and in Germany.

Dr. Edgar Jimenez, the President of WFSICCM, highlighted the use of Robodoc and such latest technology to advance critical care.

In terms of this region, Dr Jimenez said that the UAE is a leading example for providing advanced critical care in the PAN ARAB society. “ The UAE sets an example in this region by demonstrating the use of sophisticated technology, skilled medical staff and integration to manage critical care patients.”

Jean Daniel Chiche, President Elect of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine ( ESICM) said that keeping in mind the changing demographics the world over, critical care will gain more importance in the years to come. “ In this region, there is need to further advance training facilities and educational needs in terms of critical care. Another area of great importance is to focus on trauma patients, because many of them are young adults and can go back to leading their lives normally.”

Dr Khalid Shukri, Founder, Past President and current Secretary General of the International Pan Arab Critical Care Medicine Society said, “ No matter what the specialization is, from cardiology to general surgery and gynaecology, when a patient is critically ill, he is moved to the ICU because that is where the patient is monitored continuously and provided intensive levels of care. Therefore the importance of this field will only grow in the years to come.”

Thirty countries participated at the conference including USA, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, India, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Japan, the GCC countries, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan and South Africa.

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