National COVID Research & Scientific Meeting,

5th September

Medical professionals working in intensive care throughout the country will attend a virtual National COVID Research and Scientific Meeting to discuss the management of critically ill patients with Covid19 on Saturday September 5th.

Hosted by the Intensive Care Society of Ireland, the Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine of Ireland and the College of Anaesthesiologists of Ireland, this meeting will focus on the experience and learnings of Irish Intensivists (ICU doctors) and Anaesthesiologists during the ongoing Covid19 pandemic. They will explore what happened, the learnings, the best treatments options from an Irish and global perspective, and ethical issues surrounding the management of this new and challenging disease.

There will be two online scientific sessions for the medical community to attend followed by a third session at 12.15pm, which will be open to the general public via Zoom.

Having come through the first wave of Covid-19, the speakers will discuss best practices going forward and will address issues of interest to the public.

There will be an opportunity to hear Dr Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer HSE and panel member of NPHET, talk about learning lessons and reflections from the pandemic. 23-year old trainee doctor Dr. Owen O’Flynn, who was critically ill with Covid-19 and intubated at the ICU in Cork University Hospital, will share his experience. Dr. Colman O’Loughlin, President of The Intensive Care Society of Ireland, will discuss ethical issues during a pandemic.

Commenting on the event, President of the College of Anaesthesiologists of Ireland Dr. Brian Kinirons, who is chairing the open sessions, said. “This is a fantastic opportunity for medical professionals to share their learnings, and for members of the public to hear first-hand from the frontline medical community about the Covid-19 pandemic. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions at the end of this virtual meeting.”

The online event is free to attend. However, it is essential to pre-register on http://bit.ly/nationalcovidconf before 5pm on Wednesday September 2nd, as there will be a maximum capacity of 500 participants. Alternatively, you can email Rebeca Williams at rwilliams@coa.ie.

ICU 4 U Charity Cycle

The meeting takes place the day after the ICU 4 U Charity Cycle, which will see ICU doctors, nurses and staff cycle from all over Ireland to Dublin to raise €100,000 for people particularly affected by the Covid-19 crisis. The cycle is in aid of four charities - Breakthrough Cancer Research (cancer patients), Aware (mental health), ALONE (older people), and ICUsteps (ICU patients). The concept came about because ICU staff are uncomfortable at being called frontline and heroes. They want to put the focus back on those most in need.

For more see www.icu4u.ie.

For more information please visit: