ASEM is gone but won't be forgotten
The Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine ended its days on 25 September 2023, but its critical part in the origin story of ELS course, PHEMC.org and ACEM leaves an enduring legacy.
The ASEM started as an association of emergency department directors who came together to discuss common issues. They perceived a need to share academic information on how best to practice the science and started a journal that grew into what is now Emergency Medicine Australasia.
““I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who was involved with the Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine over its more than 40-year lifespan. These collaborators made a difference.””
Conferring for regular scientific meetings meant travelling interstate or from New Zealand to hear each other present on topics that were relevant only to emergency departments.
Flying in the 1980s – when prices for air tickets were similar to their cost today, while practitioners earned only a fraction of their current wages – was a significant commitment but, in the absence of internet or even fax, and with teleconference being shockingly expensive, it allowed exchange of information and had the side benefit of providing important networking opportunities.
By charging themselves subscription fees, some operational office costs could be funded by members. Face-to-face meetings and an annual conference were also self-funded by members paying additional fees. And the conference was profitable for a while; it grew into the Winter Symposium.
Creating a college
With such a large and separate body of knowledge associated with Emergency Medicine, these pioneers decided to form a college. Members volunteered to put together the enormous boxes of paperwork (typed, but word processors were in development as a forerunner of desktop computers) and a submission to become an Australian specialty was made.
““With such a large and separate body of knowledge associated with Emergency Medicine, these pioneers decided to form a college.””
A bit of luck was on their side. The submission was sent to Senator Richardson just before an election - and he signed off on their proposal. It meant that, in addition to ASEM, there was now a college: the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM).
The doctors already in the ASEM gave themselves fellowship of the College and were known as Foundation Fellows. Gayle McInnerney, who gave up her role on ASEM council only a few years ago, was one of them. The decision to keep both bodies – ASEM and ACEM – going was made.
The ACEM would set academic standards, run exams, and only be accessible to those who had passed the exams and met the requirements to be a specialist. The ASEM would continue to be open to trainees and other non-specialists – representing the broad group that practiced Emergency Medicine. It could also have a role in politics and advocacy that was not appropriate for the College.
Membership and the impact of dwindling resources
There were regular newsletters, the winter symposium, and frightfully formal elections of councillors. The ELS course needed an auspicing body, and it wasn’t going to get underway with the large complex structure of the college, so it was done through the ASEM.
But when the winter symposium lost a lot of money one year – combined with declining membership and the ongoing costs of publishing the journal – the money to fund the frequent face-to-face meetings that had been such a vital part of the society’s operations was in short supply.
““The ELS course needed an auspicing body, and it wasn’t going to get underway with the large complex structure of the college, so it was done through the ASEM.””
Some in the college felt the society should be shut down, saying it risked producing a two-tier system for emergency doctors in Australia. But when the ASEM asked its membership if they wanted to continue, they said ‘yes’, the society went to on to help establish the Peripheral Hospitals’ Emergency Medicine Conference that became PHEMC.org (more auspicing) and gave prizes for EM research. It also got stuck into advocacy for the Queensland Emergency Doctors during a political and industrial dispute.
Membership, however, continued to wane. The web page, Facebook page, and newsletter all depended on the efforts of volunteers who were already busy. The membership was opened to the wider EM community with little engagement.
The global pandemic proved challenging for organisation’s health
In 2019, when there had not been any meaningful activity for about a year, the remaining councillors met in Brisbane to decide what to do. The decision was made to ‘mothball’ the ASEM, then consider – in the following year or so – if there was a use for it to continue.
When COVID happened, contact with some remaining members was lost, and those we could get in touch with agreed that the ASEM should be formally wound up. The remaining money – approximately $20,000 in the bank account – was given to PHEMC.org to put towards creating the GOODEM site. It was a gesture that enabled the society to make one last major contribution to Emergency Medicine in Australia and New Zealand.
I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who was involved with the Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine over its more than 40-year lifespan. These collaborators made a difference.
