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His Excellency Dr. Majid Alfayyadh, Chief Executive Officer of the General Organization of King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre (KFSH&RC) in Riyadh, has stated that the Emergency Department of KFSH&RC-Riyadh annually receives about 60,000 patients, including 20,000 children, mostly patients with cancer, organ transplant, heart and genetic diseases, and other critical ailments. Dr. Alfayyadh pointed out that the recent opening of the 110-bedded emergency building would mark a qualitative and quantitative addition in the efficient provision of emergency services.
In his opening speech at the “5th International Conference in Pediatric Emergency Medicine 2018” being organized by KFSH&RC-Riyadh for 3 days, H.E. Dr. Alfayyadh remarked that the aim of the conference was to discuss ways of developing medical services in the field of emergency medicine through the exchange of local and international experiences and exposure to latest developments and mechanisms of problem management in the emergency departments to achieve high quality and excellence in the delivery of medical care.
For his part, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Conference and Pediatric Emergency Medicine Consultant at KFSH&RC-Riyadh, Dr. Mohammed Alfaifi, stated that hospitals in Saudi Arabia have begun to recognize the importance of establishing specialized departments in Pediatric Emergency Medicine. He stressed the importance of upgrading these departments in all hospitals with specialized medical staff. He also added that a fellowship program for Pediatric Emergency Medicine in limited hospitals has been started a few years ago, and 30 doctors are graduating from this program every year.
According to Dr. Alfaifi, a local study conducted over the past years showed that about 75% of the emergency referrals were uncalled for since the patients could have been treated through primary health care.
The chairman of the organizing committee clarified that the conference that is being held at the Alfaisal University is featuring 5 international speakers from the American Society of Pediatrics and 25 speakers from Saudi. As many as 30 research papers are being presented and 20 workshops are being held during the conference. The conference is deliberating on developments in the field of Pediatric Emergency Medicine in Saudi Arabia and the best ways to deal with various diseases, accidents, and injuries in the departments of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, highlighting that children constituted 40% of the population.
Dr. Alfaifi added that the conference through 20 academic sessions is discussing about enhancing the quality of treatment and the ways to manage problems in the emergency departments by talking to the patients and the internal departments of the hospital. He pointed out several issues that are being discussed in the conference. These include the ways to deal with overcrowding in emergency departments, enhancing negotiation skills with patients and other departments, achieving a distinguished level in emergency medicine nursing, training in dealing with critical cases through simulation and cases of child poisoning, training in dealing with cases of respiratory problems in children, and identifying ways in dealing with injuries and fractures in Pediatric Emergency. He also referred to the wrong approach in dealing with simple cases by giving antibiotics to children that they do not need at all and that can seriously affect the child’s immunity and health at the long run.