ESAM Christmas Letter from The President

Dear friends and colleagues of Aerospace Medicine in Europe,

As 2016 soon draws to an end, and most of us hoperfully have some time off with family and friends at Christmas, I think it is appropriate to share some thoughts with the great ESAM family of Aerospace Medicine in Europe.

I would like to thank everyone involved in the working of ESAM, in particular the Executive Committee and past president Kevin Herbert for the great work done the past year, and the Advisory Board so efficiently led by Ries Simons, as well as our representatives in different collaborative fora with EASA, AsMa, EAAP and ECA. 
Many representatives of ESAM have worked hard to contribute to a best possible outcome of the important work in the aftermath of the Germanwings tragedy. Important contributions from ESAM have been made which will benefit the support of  pilots with psychological issues in the future. One example of such a contribution is being followed up in the European Peer Support initiative, EPPSI, where ESAM representatives work, together with European Cockpit Association and European Association of Aviation Psychology, to produce guidance for best-practice peer-support systems for pilots in Europe. Look out for the upcoming ”EPPSI outreach” event  in early February.

ESAMs collaboration with AsMa and the Norwegian Association of Aviation Medicine to arrange the 5th ECAM (European Conference of Aerospace Medicine)  turned out to be a great success, both scientifically and regarding attendance, with 412 registrations (incluing 61 accompanying persons) from 46 countries! The city of Oslo provided us with unusually sunny september days , which no doubt contributed to the magnificent setting on the Holmenkollen hill above Oslo to be a hit. A special thanks to Lars Tjensvoll, NAAM, and Jeff and  Debra Sventek, AsMa for making a huge difference in making this conference a success.

In the coming year, we will make decisions on ECAM 6 in 2018, as well as trying to developing our work for European Aserospace medicine. In particular, we wish to invite institutions of Aerospace Medicine across Europe, many of which are military, to get involved in ESAM activities, as I believe there are many possible synergies in European Aerospace Medicine that are yet to be explored.

It is from  the ”grass roots” ESAM  must develop further , and I know our many constituent societies across Europe harbour many Aerospace Medicine practitioners that would enjoy and benefit from working actively in ESAM – I therefore urge you all to think of candidates for ESAM service in the coming years. It is indeed a privilege to serve as president for such a rich society with so many nations, cultures and expertise in Aerospace Medicine.

My very best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Anthony S. Wagstaff
President
European Society of Aerospace Medicine