OUR DEVELOPMENT
HKSEMS was established in 1985
The development of HKSEMS was closely linked to the development of emergency medicine in Hong Kong. After the first A&E consultant was appointed in 1981, a group of dedicated A&E doctors joined together to form the Society in 1985. Thereafter, the Society organized various training activities, published a series of A&E reference manuals and the Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine. These all helped establish the specialty status of emergency medicine in Hong Kong. After thirteen years of hard work, the Hong Kong College of Emergency Medicine was finally established in 1997.
With the establishment of the College to oversee the professional standard of fellows and training of trainees, HKSEMS continues to strive for the betterment of emergency services in Hong Kong through organizing training for junior doctors, nurses and paramedics. The Society also represents Hong Kong in the Asian Society for Emergency Medicine.
Milestones
1947
First Casualty Unit established at Queen Mary Hospital
1981
First full-time Consultant appointed
1983
Casualty Unit renamed as Accident and Emergency Department
1984
First local candidate passed FRCSEd (A&E) examination
1985
Hong Kong Society of Emergency Medicine and Surgery registered under Section 5 of the Societies Ordinance on 5 July 1985
First Council Meeting at Tang Shiu Kin Hospital on 10 Oct 1985
First Meeting at Tang Shiu Kin Hospital on 27 Sep 1985
1986
Inaugural Symposium on 21 Mar 1986
Beginning of the Quarterly Scientific Meeting
1988
Certificate Course in A&E Nursing in collaboration with Government Nursing Officer Association
Establishment of the Publications Subcommittee (chaired by Dickson Chang)
1989
Establishment of the Subcommittee on Pre-hospital Emergency Care (chaired by Matthew Kwa)
Co-organized the 6th World Congress of Emergency and Disaster Medicine in Hong Kong
1990
Inaugural issue of the first official Society newsletter: Emergi-News
Establishment of the Training Subcommittee (chaired by FL Lau)
Commencement of the Bimonthly Interhospital Clinical Meeting in October 1990
1991
Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) Course was first introduced to Hong Kong in collaboration with Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC), Canada, together with the first one-day Course on Resuscitation for junior medical officers and the Basic Principles of Defibrillation Course for ambulance staff;
Induction Course for New A&E Doctors
1992
Establishment of the Nursing Subcommittee (coordinated by KK Lai)
Certificate Course in Wound Management and Suturing
Induction Course Manual
1993
Training Subcommittee became Training & Development Subcommittee (chaired by FL Lau)
Joint function with JIBC: "Cardiology and Resuscitation Seminar"
Bimonthly Recent Advances Seminar
Cardiac Arrest Management Course
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation-Automated External Defibrillation (CPR-AED) Course
1994
Friendly visit to Beijing emergency departments (led by FL Lau, SH Yip)
Workshops for Emergency Procedures
Inaugural issue of the Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine was published
Core Manual for Training in Emergency Medicine (1st Edition)
Emergency Procedure Manual
1995
Intravenous Access Course (for nurses)
Basic Trauma Life Support Course (for nurses and prehospital care providers in collaboration with the JIBC)
1996
First Paediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) Course in collaboration with JIBC
Emergency Drug Manual
Emergency Drug Handbook
1997
Hong Kong College of Emergency Medicine was established
Advanced Paediatric Life Support (APLS) Course
Emergency Diagnostic Test Manual
1998
HKSEMS became one of the founding members of Asian Society for Emergency Medicine (ASEM)
Core Manual for Training in Emergency Medicine (2nd Edition)
1999
The first College Exit Examination was held
Management of Medical Emergencies in Dental Practice Setting Course (in collaboration with the College of Dental Surgeons of Hong Kong)
2000
Participation in 全國兩岸四地急診醫學會議 at Guangzhou, China
2001
Accident and Emergency Course at Kiang Wu Hospital, Macau
2002
Emergency Medicine Course for traditional Chinese medicine undergraduate students at the Baptist University
2004
Host for the 3rd Asian Conference in Emergency Medicine
2006
Certificate Course in Wilderness Medicine in collaboration with the Federation of Medical Societies of Hong Kong
2008
The 1st Hong Kong-Shenzhen Emergency Medicine Summit, which has developed into a biennial Emergency Medicine conference
The first private emergency centre was established at Union Hospital
2012
Hong Kong Emergency Services Survey
2013
Host for the 4th HK-SZ EM Conference
2014
Host for the 15th International Conference on Emergency Medicine (ICEM)
Emergency Medicine Unit was established at the University of Hong Kong
2015
HKSEMS celebrated its 30th Anniversary
2016
Board of Clinical Toxicology was formed and and Clinical Toxicology subspecialty was recognised
2017
Host for the 6th HK-SZ EM Conference
The first issue of the current HKSEMS Newsletter was published in April 2017
2021
Host for the 11th Asian Conference on Emergency Medicine