Johannesburg, South Africa  - With the 16th International Conference on Emergency Medicine (ICEM) taking place in Cape Town from 18 – 21 April 2016, the state of emergency and trauma care, the need for continued education, and understanding the latest medical equipment and care is coming under review.

According to The South Africa Heart and Stroke Foundation, 130 heart attacks, and 240 strokes occur daily in South Africa, while the latest Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) annual report shows that more than four thousand five hundred (4,500) people died on South African roads during the year 2014-15.

As stipulated in the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3, these figures emphasise the importance of proactively investing in one’s health while also relying on trusted healthcare partners by empowering emergency care teams to react quickly and effectively in hospital, on the roads or in the home environment.

Philips South Africa will use the conference to raise conversations around the importance, relevance and ongoing innovation required in emergency situations, ranging from trauma to sudden cardiac arrest through their commitment to the SDG 3 targets. Conversations will specifically focus on the SDG 3 goals to halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2020 and strengthening the capacity of developing countries in particular for early warning, risk reduction and management of health risks.
 

To demonstrate the importance of state-of-the-art emergency care technology, Philips will create an emergency simulation scenario focused on the important steps taken to protect patients’ lives through immediate vital sign monitoring and stabilisation; displaying current equipment capabilities.
 

"As a patient moves through the continuum of care from the ambulance, emergency department, diagnostic imaging centre, cath lab, operating room and, or critical care ward, Philips helps to manage the flow of patient information, making it available when and where it is needed to empower healthcare providers to offer better, faster care. Philips is uniquely positioned to empower healthcare professionals to attend to patients in each of these settings, as well as the home", says Helen Brown, Philips Africa Senior Director for Patient Care & Monitoring, Ultrasound and Value Imaging Solutions.

"By innovating some of the most trusted patient care solutions, Philips strives to make the world healthier and more sustainable. The Philips range of emergency medicine HeartStart MRx defibrillators, Philips Sparq emergency medicine ultrasound system, and IntelliVue bedside patient monitors, ensures that specialised predictive and preventative care can be a current reality, because every second counts in emergency situations," Brown concluded.
 

Philips Emergency Care and Resuscitation systems, clinical training, services, accessories and programs are designed to enable care providers to respond to emergencies quickly and effectively wherever they occur and give those being treated the best chance of returning to an active, normal life. Philips offers a wide range of innovative, evidence-based emergency care and resuscitation solutions. Key solutions and technologies being showcased at ICEM include: