EACTA Presidential Message December 2015

Dear Friends, dear Colleagues,

It has been a while since my last presidential message. Certainly there were enough of noteworthy events issues to communicate, but there were good reasons to postpone this. Before explaining the reasons, allow me to take a somewhat different perspective for this to address.

The on-going series of dramatic events that now directly affect Europe are to be seen within a global perspective, suggesting that the response should at least imply a global component. We do not live in splendid isolation any more.

In this respect an absolute eye opener to me was the invitation to present the “European perspective of the socio-economic aspects of CTVA practice” at the ICCVA meeting in Washington in April this year. This proved to be a tedious but rewarding experience. I prepared the lecture by doing a survey among the country representatives of EACTA. Most striking to me was not the expected huge variability in the organization of our CTVA practices throughout Europe but rather the fact that the “E” within EACTA is not really paying tribute to Europe. At best it stands for European Union. What I noticed was that several countries within geographical Europe did not have a representative to participate in the survey, implying that these countries did not meet the required 5 EACTA members criterion of five. These countries included the Baltic States, the Balkan states, Belarus, Ukraine and even Russia. At the same time it was astonishing to see how several countries from outside EU managed to have more than five EACTA members and therefore were represented within EACTA’s representative Council. Factually this is the legal voting body of EACTA and the body to influence strategy.

Although cardiovascular disease may be increasingly under control in several European countries, it is much less the case or even on the rise in other countries both within and outside Europe. Taken the above together it calls for EACTA to position itself within this changing global socio-economic context. I would therefore like to challenge you with the following question regarding the mission of EACTA:

"Should EACTA rather focus on responding to new challenges in state of the art CTVA in the European Union or should it focus on assisting colleagues in less fortunate countries in their challenge to assure safe, effective and equitable CTVA?"

Although we should probably do both, the issues involved are relevant and should make us wonder how we will position EACTA’s educational and scientific activities in its global medical and socio-economic context. This by itself is more than a good reason to joining the EACTA community, and trying to understand why many colleagues from within EU are not represented within EACTA and wonder why on the other hand many colleagues from outside Europe seek joining EACTA. Indeed EACTA is very attractive for many reasons.

First it offers state of the art Educational opportunities within the broad field that are unrivalled within Europe and beyond. Indeed once again we have appreciated the high level of science and education in Goteborg that was offered in different format. Typical of EACTA Annual Congresses this happened in an atmosphere of camaraderie where young and experienced researchers easily connect. The Echo Course in The Hague was again outstanding and very well attended with an updated program and a brand new Hands On course focusing on TTE, lung ultrasound and vascular access as mandatory tools. The course was 100% hands on but offered in conjunction with excellent e-learning modules (blended learning). This would not have been possible without the efforts of many enthusiastic EACTA members within the respective Local Organizing Committees, Congress Committee and Echo Sub Specialty Committee (SSC).

Second EACTA has become an all year round dynamic CTVA network, a transformation in full effect starting to pay off. Many new activities are either continued or initiated within the SSC and permanent committees. Several surveys have been conducted, courses have been setup like the Trainee course (second time in 2015) and the Crash course on Coagulation. Many members have taken up opportunities to working together with related Associations, in particular with the Society of Cardiac Anesthesiologists and the European Society of Anesthesiology. An Anaesthesia for Lung Transplant group should reach consensus at our Annual Congress in Basel in May. Guidelines on European CTVA practice (in conjunction with ESA) and another on Patient Blood Management (in conjunction with EACTS) have been initiated providing opportunities to EACTA members to author leading articles.

Third EACTA is connecting. Very important is the EACTA LinkedIn group open to EACTA members and others, counting over 3000 participants from around the globe, exchanging information and participating in various discussions within the field of CTVA. The website is modernized and provides click-through access to EACTA e-Academy and EACTA’s Association journal (Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesiology). In order to link virtual and real activities we erected a Social Network Task Force that will develop activities on the Social Networks in conjunction with the SSC.

Fourth EACTA is open and democratic. EACTA membership is on the rise again with the cap of 1000 members in sight for the first time in our history. Members encounter a very open and transparent Association. EACTA’s representative council unanimously accepted that full membership is now available for non-Anaesthesiologists. This implies that anaesthesiologists as well as scientists, Anaesthesia nurses, perfusionists, etc. not only can fully participate in EACTA’s activities but will be eligible for officer positions as well.

All this would not be possible without the professional assistance of an Association Management Company (AMC) and Professional Conference Organisation (PCO). In 2013 we selected “vereint –Vereins-unf Konferentzmanagement GmbH” from Vienna as our AMC and PCO. Unfortunately “vereint” went through a serious internal crisis in 2015. Faced with the considerable impact of these internal problems on the working relationship with EACTA, the DB took the decision to end the collaboration with “vereint” in order to secure a stable future for EACTA. It was not possible to communicate about this process whilst we were working to develop alternatives. This explains much of the radio silence and perception of inertia that some of you might have experienced the last 4 months.

Rest assured that the entire DB spent a lot of time and effort in handling the situation properly and finding a new AMC & PCO. After a carefully conducted process comparing different international AMC players we agreed with International Conference Services from Copenhagen as our new AMC & PCO partner.  By the end of November the hand over from “vereint” to ICS will be finalized. I would like to thank “vereint” for its contribution to EACTA as an Association and for the professional conduct of the migration to ICS.

The DB believes that with ICS we have found a partner that matches the size and goals of EACTA. We are looking forward to a lasting relationship aimed at further supporting the broad EACTA community. Per Ankaer, managing director, will shortly introduce our ICS team that you will be able to meet both virtually and life in the near future.

In conclusion I believe EACTA has an important role to play within the global context of CTVA. We should promote CTVA taking into account today’s challenges of providing safe, effective and equitable CTVA. We should do this conscious of the strength of connecting enthusiastic CTVA anaesthesiologists from within geographical Europe and beyond. When indicated we should develop our activities in conjunction with our natural partners; cardiac surgeons, interventional cardiologists, perfusionists and intensivists, together with our allies overseas. And last but not least I believe we should outreach to assist CTVA anaesthesiologists from less fortunate countries in achieving their goals and find valuable ways for reciprocal interaction.

May I invite you to experience for yourself by participating in EACTA’s numerous activities. The best way to do so is to join one of our Subspecialty Committees, to check our website, to join EACTA’s Social Networks and last but not least to attend to our Annual Course in May in Basel and to the Echo Course in Istanbul in September!
Best regards,

Peter MJ Rosseel
President

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Best regards,

Peter MJ Rosseel
President of EACTA