Page 9 - SREMI 2020 Annual Report

SREMI ACCELERATES KNOWLEDGE TRANSLATION
EM Cases (https://emergencymedicinecases.com/) was developed by Dr. Anton Helman of NYGH and is disseminated with SREMI support. EM Cases began as a podcast, with nearly 12 million podcast downloads since inception and episodes average more than 220,000 downloads per month. The website had approximately 2,300,000 podcast downloads thus far in 2020. In the early months of COVID-19, Dr. Helman created a series of apropos podcasts on SARS-CoV-2 pathophysiology, hospital surge capacity, healthcare provider wellness and personal protective equipment, and a dozen updates in later months as the science of COVID-19 evolved. I listen to dozens of emergency medicine, critical care, and geriatric podcasters as part of my approach to lifelong learning. Bar none, Dr. Helman’s syntheses to his immense and continually expanding EM Cases audience is the best COVID-19 Free Open Access Meducation (FOAMed) resource available. Undoubtedly, his platform, network of experts and communication style saved both patient lives as well as healthcare teams and their families.
Similarly, Dr. Don Melady became the solution for the Geriatric Emergency Department Collaborative (GEDC, see https:// geriatric-ed.com/) during the COVID-19 era. Whereas GEDC was built upon a foundation of in-person “Boot Camps” to provide external expertise and a structured approach to implementing older adult emergency medicine quality improvements across healthcare systems, travel and large gatherings became impossible this year. Consequently, Dr. Melady developed a series of monthly webinars ranging from emergency department approaches to COVID-19 diagnosis and management, to nursing home transitions and telehealth solutions (all archived on https://gedcollaborative.com/events/past).
The education efforts of Drs. Helman and Melady speak to the full potential of SREMI. Writing grants and publishing papers in isolation will never be suf cient strategies to deliver optimal healthcare to patients in a reasonable timeframe.
REFLECTIONS FROM THE CHAIR
This will serve as my nal IAB Chair’s perspective. In my academic career, I have witnessed the birth and demise of numerous ideas that appeared as disruptive innovations initially, but never attained momentum. Malcolm Gladwell noted “the tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.” SREMI is at the precipice of that tipping point. By demonstrating the capability to adapt on the y as COVID-19 emerged, SREMI is a guidepost for emergency medicine researchers worldwide. Unanticipated challenges undoubtedly remain ahead for SREMI as the full economic and societal impact of COVID-19’s scourge unfolds in coming years. Nonetheless, emergency medicine’s research community would be wise to engage with SREMI to understand how one community’s investment in emergency medicine research can reverberate globally. Personally, I have made that statement in meetings for different organizations in response to numerous challenges confronting clinical research – SREMI’s mission and vision illuminates a path for all of emergency medicine from the pre-hospital setting through the emergency department to the intensive care unit or hospital oor and back home.
Worldwide, emergency medicine challenges accelerated unexpectedly, as did the opportunities to lead. As stated by Winston Churchill “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”. SREMI represents emergency medicine’s eternal future and the IAB remains an indispensably engaged SREMI partner.
Respectfully submitted,
Christopher R. Carpenter, MD, MSc, FACEP, AGSF Chair, SREMI International Advisory Board Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine Washington University in St. Louis
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