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Dr. Al Qasabi Opens The International Conference in Pediatric Emergency Medicin

H.E. Chief Executive Officer of King Faisal Specialist Hospital And Research Centre, Dr. Qasim Al-Qasabi opened at Al-Faisal University the 4th International Conference in Pediatric Emergency Medicine, organized by KFSH and welcomed 30 spokesperson from KSA, GCC Countries and USA.  

Dr. Al Qasabi shed light on the importance of pediatric emergency medicine as one of rarest disciplines which requires intensive medical care provided by qualified professionals in the field. Dr. Al-Qasabi indicated the importance of such conferences to discuss the latest updates in lights of the increasing advancement of evidence-based practices in pediatric emergency medicine.

His Excellency enticed that the emergency medicine department receives 60 thousand patients annually, including many complicated situations such as organs transplantation like heart, lung, and liver transplant, as well as patients with different stages of chemotherapy and those suffering from complicated conditions such as metabolism diseases and infrequent congenital disorders, which necessitates the training and education of medical staff attending such cases.   

On the other hand, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Section Head & Consultant, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, of the Emergency Medicine Department at KFSH&RC in Riyadh, KSA, Dr. Mohammed Al-Faifi, said that KSA Hospitals started to recognize the importance of establishing specialized pediatric emergency medicine departments, and emphasized the significance of extending these departments and providing the specialized medical staff required therefor. Dr. Al-Faifi added that since the establishment of pediatric emergency medicine fellowship program, the enrollment have increased in this speciality, despite the fact that it is a long way to cover all the needs of this discipline in most of the Saudi hospitals, since the total number of physicians graduated from the program is only 60 doctors up to date.

Dr. Al-Faifi stated that the locally conducted studies during the recent years revealed that 75 percent of the patients visiting emergency rooms are of situations that do not require emergency services. The reason for this high percentage, according to him, is the lack of primary health care facilities at residential quarters.

The Chairman of the Organizing Committee described that the Conference attendees exceeded one thousand, including 5 international speakers from the American Academy of Pediatrics and 25 speakers form KSA and Gulf countries, who addressed through 30 scientific papers and 20 workshops the evolution of pediatric emergency medicine and the modality to encounter different diseases and injuries in emergency medicine departments for pediatrics who form 40 percent of population, in addition to discuss the best practices to deal with the pediatric accidents and injuries.