The 2023 FEED Study reported the prevalence of Frailty in European Emergency Departments, using consecutive administration of the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) for all older people attending 62 hospitals during a 24 hour period.

In this new sub-study analysing data ‘missingness’ in routine CFS administrations conducted immediately prior to the FEED Study’s cohort recruitment, researchers share the concerning finding that over half of mandated observations were being missed. Those people who were not white, or who had lower acuity presentations were disproportionately likely to have their CFS missing.

The paper provides some food for thought for clinicians and managers working in centres where frailty screening is used, as attention to studying and improving implementation is almost certainly necessary. Meanwhile, researchers using frailty screening outcomes in routine datasets must carefully consider the provenance and completeness of data while determining the validity of their analyses.

Members and collaborators of the the European Taskforce on Geriatric Emergency Medicine have just returned from Rome, where the World Academic Congress on Emergency Medicine 2024 included two full days of GeriEM symposia and workshops.

Highlights included keynote presentations by Shan Liu on the Geriatric Emergency Department and Daniele Giudici on the role and critical importance of Clinical Pharmacy in GeriEM. Lorenz Van der Linden led an engaging workshop on medication reconciliation and deprescribing.

Congratulations to all involved, and thank you to the organisers for recognising GeriEM and Clinical Pharmacy in the programme.

Members of the European Taskforce on Geriatric Emergency Medicine (ETGEM) have produced a brand new e-course on Palliative Care in the Emergency Department.

Participants on this free e-course are able to access a programme of recorded lectures, podcasts, and guided reflective practice. On completion, participants will receive a certificate for 5 accredited CME points.

The e-course is hosted on the European Society for Emergency Medicine (EUSEM) Academy platform and is free to access: https://academy.eusem.org/course/view.php?id=3

Following Saturday’s train-the-trainer, on Sunday we enjoyed a hugely successful GeriEM bootcamp attended by 24 delegates from Europe and Australasia.

Two main auditorium symposia have followed, including ‘When the guidelines don’t fit’ by experts Drs Martina Pavletić, Peter Vanbrabant, Stephen Lim, Veronika Wunderlich-Sperl, and Thomas Dreher-Hummel.

Hello from Copenhagen!

We have had a great start to EUSEM Congress 2024 with our full-day Geriatric Emergency Medicine: Train-The-Trainer course. Graduates of last year’s course have delivered disseminated GeriEM training as far afield as Taipei and Kuala Lumpar, and we cannot wait to hear updates from this year’s cohort.

Our full programme of GeriEM activities continues tomorrow morning with our half-day bootcamp course, before symposia tomorrow and Monday, and our section meeting on Tuesday.

Following an excellent week of education, research updates, and conversations with old and new GeriEM friends at the EuGMS Conference in Valencia, Spain, we are next excitedly looking ahead to the European Society for Emergency Medicine (EUSEM) Congress, 12-16 October in Copenhagen, Denmark.

• Saturday 12 October: GeriEM Train-The-Trainer course SOLD OUT
  
• Sunday 13 October morning: GeriEM ‘boot camp’ course SOLD OUT
• Sunday 13 October 1630-1800: EM Geriatrics: Frailty care journeys. General session symposium
• Monday 14 October 0900-1030: GeriEM When the guidelines don’t fit. General session symposium
• Monday 14 October 1200: Meet the EUSEM GeriEM committee. EUSEM Podium session
• Monday 14 October 1400: Official launch of the e-course on Palliative Care in the Emergency Department. EUSEM Podium session
• Tuesday 15 October 1500: GeriEM section meeting (all welcome)

Read more about our courses and events here

The EuGMS GEM section met today in Valencia, enjoying a very well attended session with colleagues from across Europe and worldwide.

We heard from Dr Santiago Castejon-Hernandez presenting on his system’s Geriatric Day Hospital (GDH) in Barcelona and from Dr James van Oppen presenting the results of last year’s Frailty in European Emergency Departments (FEED) study, as well as hearing updates on SIG activities and plans.

Next up on the agenda is ‘New models of care’ at 2pm in Auditorium 2, including an overvie

Prior to the cross-sectional recruitment described in the headline FEED study, a survey of operational characteristics was undertaken. Here we report service structure and variation across centres in Europe: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13049-024-01234-w

How can we integrate evidence-based medicine and person-centred care paradigms when reaching pragmatic decisions for complex older people using emergency care? Collaborators of the European Taskforce on Geriatric Emergency Medicine (the GeriEM sections of EUSEM and EuGMS) worked with members of the International Federation of Emergency Medicine to produce this framework published in Emergency Medicine Journal: https://doi.org/10.1136/emermed-2024-213898