BAEM - Background
The British Association for Emergency Medicine (BAEM) was founded as the Casualty Surgeons Association on 12th October 1967, when Senior Casualty Officers, in conjunction with the BMA, negotiated the establishment of separate Consultant posts to deal with emergencies.
At that time, there was only one Consultant in the United Kingdom whose clinical and organisational commitment was wholly within the Emergency Department.
In 1972 the Department of Health agreed to fund some thirty Consultant posts as a pilot scheme, which created a new specialty - Accident and Emergency Medicine.
In 1975 the Specialist Advisory Committee (SAC) in Accident and Emergency Medicine was formed in order to establish a recognised training programme.
In 1977 the first Senior Registrar appointments were made and in 1983 the first specialty examination (FRCSEd in Accident and Emergency Medicine and Surgery) took place.
The Association has been involved in all phases of development and expansion of the specialty. Senior members of the Association were actively involved in negotiations for the creation of the College of Emergency Medicine (CEM), inaugurated on 2nd November 1993, and which conducted its first Exit Examination (FCEM) in October 1996.
In 1998 the Joint Committee on Higher Training in Accident and Emergency Medicine (previously SAC) at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, under the auspices of the College of Emergency Medicine, was established.
Since those early days the standards of work and the organisation of departments has improved dramatically and the success of the Association's activities can be seen in the fact that there are now over 600 emergency consultant posts in existence, with over 500 registrars in training.
Through its Emergency Medicine specialists, the British Association for Emergency Medicine:
