The EUSEM GeriEM Section had a strong presence at this year’s Congress, spanning five days of education, research and section business.

Education: Train-the-Trainer and Bootcamp

The GeriEM Train-the-Trainer (TTT) course ran over two days from 23 September, equipping participants with the knowledge and skills to deliver scenarios and discussions on frailty-attuned emergency care. The GeriEM Bootcamp followed on 24 September.

Scientific sessions

Christian Nickel opened with a keynote on geriatric emergency care, framed around frailty identification, the ABCDE-F assessment and the 5Ms.

In “What’s New in GeriEM?” (chaired by Don Melady and Szabolcs Gaal-Marshal), Shan Liu presented the US GeriED Guidelines 2.0 refresh; Szabolcs Gaal-Marshal reflected on delivering GeriEM with limited resources; Debra Eagles presented an evaluation of boarding-related harms in older ED patients; and Barry Evans described Derby’s frailty Same Day Emergency Care (fSDEC) model.

A session on palliative care in the ED (chaired by Britta Stier and Bernard Foex) heard from Iita Daavittila on using the Clinical Frailty Scale to support palliative decision-making, Christian Nickel on the evidence gap around palliative care in ED observation units, Nadja Granholm on symptom management and crisis intervention at the end of life, and Bernard Foex on the ethical framework for end-of-life care in the ED.

Section meeting and leadership

The GeriEM Section presented a podium session on 25 September, introducing our incoming chair Christophe Fehlmann. This was followed by a working meeting of members, agreeing on our current priority project being the refresh of the GeriEM curriculum.