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The Young History of Emergency Medical Center (First Aid
Station) Branch of Chinese Hospital Association
Pre-hospital aid is an important part of health facilities
and also the most important part in emergency medicine.
In its 50 years of development in China, pre-hospital aid
has gradually become mature and now is in its fastest developing
period. It has reached a new level in both business and
technology aspects. For instance, the overall number of
emergency practitioners has been the largest in history
and is still growing; emergency management and business
have seen constant improvement; and a nationwide pre-hospital
first aid network is taking shape. Modern emergency equipment
and technologies have been adopted through domestic development
and import. The quality of emergency care has also seen
significant improvement.
However, there are still areas where improvement is much
needed:
1. Pre-hospital aid development is unbalanced with great
disparity in the nation.
2. There are no national standards for emergency care
management, and certain current policies are counter-productive.
3. Multiple emergency response systems co-exist, and they
are often in unhealthy and disordering competition.
4. There is a lack of systematic planning of emergency
systems
5. There is a lack of information exchange and sharing
It was clear that measures must be taken in order to standardize
emergency service, enhance planning of emergency systems,
raise the overall service of emergency care, and provide
instructive and constructive recommendations on policy making
to the local and national governments in China. For this
reason, emergency centers of all levels in China have voluntarily
formed regional cooperative groups in East, North and South-west
China. Due to the success of these groups, emergency centers
all over China decided to form a unified, stronger professional
organization which would address common problems existing
in emergency centers, and play a leading role in the development
and improvement of emergency centers. Such a national organization
was also believed critical in bring Chinese emergency medical
services in line with international standards.
At the Symposium of National Emergency Diagnosis and Care,
which was held in Beijing in October 2000, emergency centers
of Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Changzhou, Hangzhou,
Yunnan, Xian, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Wuhan, etc. jointly proposed
to form Urban Emergency Center (station) Association. The
proposal were supported by 72 provincial, city and district
emergency centers (station) attending the conference. This
event also promoted the forming of South China Collaboration
Group.
In September 2001, directors of 39 municipal emergency
centers from directly-governed cities, and provincial capital
and secondary provincial cities attended Municipal Emergency
Center (Station) Association preparatory meeting. In the
meeting, representatives agreed on the necessity and urgency
of establishing Municipal Emergency Center Association,
and a close tie and support among emergency centers of China.
They discussed and tentatively agreed on the name of the
cooperative organization, drafted the association regulations,
recommended and confirmed the standing committee members,
elected the president, standing president, vice president,
secretary and vice secretary according to the elections
from the local cooperation groups. In the meanwhile, it
helped to bring about the foundation of the North-western
and Northern China Association Groups. Until this moment,
there were (6) regional association groups in China. They
were:
North-eastern, Eastern, South-western, Northern, and North-western
China Regional Association Groups. At the meeting, the representatives
also agreed tentatively on formally establishing the Association
before the end of 2001 in Qingdao. This event would be jointly
hosted by Shanghai Emergency Medical Center and Qingdao
Emergency Center.
During the Sino-Italian Symposium on Emergency Care held
in December 2001, the director of Beijing Emergency Center
reported to Wang, Yu, Vice Minister of Ministry of Health
regarding the establishment of the association. They both
agreed that there were certain difficulties. The main concern
was that because the association was a non-governmental
organization, and therefore, it would need an approval from
the Ministry of Civil Administration rather than the Ministry
of Health. That might be very difficult and take long time.
Wang suggested that the Emergency Center (Station) Association
be attached to the Chinese Hospital Association by becoming
its branch organization. Agreed by the directors of provincial
and municipal emergency centers, the establishment convention
of the association was postponed to allow for more time
to get appropriate official approval. They authorized Beijing
Emergency Center to prepare for the establishment and report
to Ministry of Health and Chinese Hospital Association.
After the proposal got approved by higher authorities and
the preparation complete, this secondary branch of the Chinese
Hospital Association would be formally formed.
In December 2001, the original Association Standing Committee
held its second meeting. At the meeting, the representatives
carefully studied the regulations of the Chinese Hospital
Association. They discussed in great detail on re-naming
the proposed association, its organizational installation,
mission and management rules. It was decided that the name
of the originally proposed organization should be replaced
by Emergency Center (Station) Professional Committee of
Chinese Hospital Association. On the basis of originally
elected president, executive vice president, vice president,
secretary and vice secretary, and according to the requirements
of Chinese Hospital Association, they elected the committee
chairman, vice committee chairman, standing committee members,
member units, and agreed on the candidate list for the Emergency
Center (Station) Professional Committee. Wang, Yu, vice
minister of the Ministry of Health, Zhao, Minggang, vice
chief of Medical Supervision Department of the Ministry,
Wang, Yaozong, vice secretary and Minister of the Ministry
of Organization were present. They instructed Beijing Emergency
Center to submit the application and a draft of proposed
organizational rules to Chinese Hospital Association. At
the meeting, the inauguration of Professional Committee
of Emergency Centers (Stations) was postponed to April 2002.
In March 2002, the Professional Committee of Emergency
Centers (Stations) was replaced by the Emergency Medical
Center (First Aid Station) Branch after approved officially
by Chinese Hospital Association. In April 2002, the inaugural
convention of the association, also the first session of
its all-member assembly was held in Qingdao. The leaders
from the Ministry of Health and the Chinese Hospital Association,
and more than 300 representatives from 32 provinces (cities,
districts) attended the convention. At the meeting, they
elected the first session committee members of the Emergency
Medical Center (First Aid Station) Branch. The first session
Standing Committee meeting was held during the session.
In the second half of the year, the standing committee members
carefully reviewed the draft regulations and discussed issues
of developing/improving pre-hospital care. They paid special
attention to the organizational details, relationship with
the parent association, membership dues collection and the
working rules.
In July 2002, the second standing committee assembly of
the branch was held in Urumqi, Xinjiang. Zhao, Minggang,
vice chief of the Medical Supervision Department of the
Ministry of Health, Zhang, Baoku, vice secretary of Chinese
Hospital Association, Professor Jiang, Guanyu, chairman
of the Emergency Branch of Chinese Medical Association attended
the meeting. The highlights of the meeting were as follows:
* Passed the organizational rules revision of the branch
* Discussed the organizational installation of the branch
* Made a five-year plan for the branch
* Reviewed the working reports of the regional professional
committee
* Passed in principle the emergency signs and symbols
of emergency care.
In November 2002, the third standing committee assembly
of the branch was held in Tianjin. The chief of the Medical
Supervision Section of the Medical Department of the Ministry
of Health attended the assembly. The major achievements
of the meeting were:
* Passed the five-year plan of the branch
* Passed the organizational installation of the branch
(second draft)
* Passed the proposal of establishing China Emergency
Medical Service System website
* Passed the conference regulations of the branch
* Passed the funding resources and management rules
Through a careful discussion, they passed in principle
the pre-hospital first aid management regulations, the principles
and rules on case-study writing of pre-hospital care, the
rules on diagnosis and treatment and operational routines
in pre-hospital care. All these documents were reported
to the Medical Department of Ministry of Health. In the
meanwhile, it was decided that all these documents be disseminated
for trial implementation in the name of the branch to the
nation¨s emergency centers. During the session, the working
plan of the branch in 2003 and the focal points in the following
years were also determined. It was decided that the Symposium
on Profession and Management in 2003 would be held in Chongqing.
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