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From the Editor-in-Chief
The role of clinical
guidelines and protocols for the
management of various disease processes in
the Emergency Department is of vital
importance to guide the emergency
physicians on proper diagnosis and
treatment of patients. The majority of
Emergency Departments in the Middle East
practice without such protocols.
In this issue, you
will find an editorial on one of the
important issues related to Emergency
Medicine. A protocol on procedural
anesthesia can be drawn from the article
From Conscious Sedation to Procedural
Anesthesia: Evolution of a Concept,
written by Professor George A. Petroianu,
Chair of the Department of Pharmacology
and Therapeutics, UAE University.
A review article,
Clearance of Cervical Spine in the Acutely
Injured, written by Dr. Elfateh Bashir,
Head of Neurosurgery Unit, Hamad General
Hospital in Qatar, has actually been
modified to be the protocol followed in
our hospital.
The Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic is
now almost over through the efforts of the
WHO and the whole world, but we still have
to be alert for it. In this issue, you
will find a review of the imaging findings
of this disease, written by Dr.Mohammed
Al-Marri from Qatar.
The good news in the
region is the increased interest in
Emergency Medicine reflected by the
numerous trauma & emergency related
courses and conferences arranged in the
Middle East. These conferences are
important educational tools to increase
the awareness of the importance of the EM
specialty. Many conferences have been held
in the region or are going to be held in
the near future. The Emirates Disaster
&Trauma Conference (EDTC) was held during
April this year. The Second Mediterranean
Emergency Medicine Congress is going to be
held in Barcelona, Spain from 13-17,
September 2003, and the Emergency Medical
Services Conference, will be held in Dubai
from 12-15, October 2003. In 2004, watch
for the 2nd Qatar International Trauma
Care, Disaster and Emergency Medicine
conference to be held in Doha, from April
7-11 2004. We take this opportunity to
extend an invitation to all our readers to
attend this conference in Qatar.
In the last issue, we
had a call for all Trauma Care and
Emergency Medicine providers to apply for
membership of the Pan-Arab Society of
Trauma and Emergency Medicine, and we
received a substantial number of
applications. We encourage all emergency
related professionals (physicians,
paramedics, and nurses) to apply. You can
find an application form in this issue.
Dr. Abdul Wahab Al
Mulseh, MD, FRCS (I), CABS
Editor-in-Chief
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