Top Stories: October 2021
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Reducing the Emergency Department’s Footprint: Greening the ED
Annals of Emergency Medicine
“If health care was a country, it would be the world’s fifth-worst greenhouse gas producer.
A new study shows that emergency departments (EDs) could reduce waste by as much as 140,000 tons—and significantly bring down emissions and costs in the process.”
Covid: WHO warns pandemic will drag on into 2022
BBC
“The Covid pandemic will ‘go on for a year longer than it needs to’ because poorer countries are not getting the vaccines they need, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
Dr Bruce Aylward, senior leader at the WHO, said it meant the Covid crisis could ‘easily drag on deep into 2022.’
Less than 5% of Africa's population have been vaccinated, compared to 40% on most other continents.”
Developing EM
“On March 11, 2020 the World Health Organisation (WHO) officially announced a global pandemic that has changed our lives forever. It was also the last day of our Colombian event, DevelopingEM 2020, and in fact the WHO announcement was during a very pertinent presentation on COVID19 by Dr Ben Wyler. As we all headed home to periods of quarantine and busy workplaces the future of conferences and DevelopingEM was uncertain. The subsequent 18 months has seen enormous changes for all of us.”
A Legal History of Medical Mandates and the Utilitarian Principle’s Slippery Slope
Emergency Medicine News
“Many health care systems and employers in the United States enacted SARS-CoV-2 vaccination mandates after an announcement by President Biden on Sept 9. (https://bit.ly/3DUxQho.) No formal executive order, however, has been signed, and no OSHA emergency temporary standard is in effect.”
EUSEM 2021: Portugal Gradually Dropping Its COVID Restrictions
EuSEM
“Portugal has been widely reported as a global leader in the vaccination campaign. Over 80% of the population are completely vaccinated, the authorities are now gradually dropping its COVID 19 restrictions, for instance mask-wearing is no longer compulsory outdoors.
To view the latest status of the COVID situation in Portugal, please go here.
From 27 to 31 October, Lisbon will be taken over by the EM community. We are expecting a very large number of delegates at the congress which will be held onsite and online, the number of onsite registrations are growing daily and we expect to host over 1100 delegates in person and remotely. More than 200 world renowned experts will present their latest findings in person. Over 1000 abstracts will be presented as oral or poster presentations.
We look forward to welcoming you to Lisbon!”
President of Myanmar Emergency Medicine Society speaks out
International Federation for Emergency Medicine
“The president of the Myanmar Emergency Medicine Society told the 2021 Global Emergency Care Conference of the complex challenges being faced by Myanmar’s health system and practitioners.
Attendees at the Global Emergency Care Conference were told of the brutality faced by Myanmar’s healthworkers and the collapse of the health system.”
