Emirates Critical Care conference: where east meets west

In ICU
Fri, 1 Jun 2018

ICU Management & Practice, Volume 18 - Issue 2, 2018

Professor Hussain Al Rahma is Head of the Emergency and Critical Care Services Directorate at Al Zahra Hospital in Dubai, UAE. He is Chairman of the Emirates Critical Care Conference, President of the International Pan-Arab Critical Care Medicine Society and President of the Emirates Intensive Care Society. Dr. Al Rahma studied medicine at King Edward Medical Centre in Lahore, Pakistan and completed the German Board certificate in Internal Medicine at the University Klinikum-Essen 1997. He joined Rashid Hospital for 10 years and later Dubai hospital for 10 years as HOD for critical care on his return to the UAE before taking up his current position at Al Zahra Hospital.

What do you enjoy most at the Emirates Critical Care Conference?

The Emirates Critical Care Conference (ECCC) just completed its 14th event. It is an event where you learn, teach, meet old and make new friends, a place where people from all over the globe get together to share their experience and knowledge.

What makes Dubai the leader for critical care provision and education in the region?

ECCC-Dubai became a benchmark for critical care physicians, nurses and technicians to build their networks, and many federations, alliances and societies founded and collaborated together to initiate much research.

Dubai became a hub where the west meets the east, low-income country meets high-income country to exchange ideas and improvements for developing countries to cope with the obstacles and challenges they might face.

In your invitation video for the conference, you say that “Critical care is a right and not a privilege.” How does this motivate all your many activities in critical care and emergency medicine?

Critical care and emergency medicine is a speciality which when needed should be available for all, in a wink of an eye; for us time is limited and life is precious.

You are a leader in intensive care in the UAE - setting up the first multidisciplinary independent ICU with fully trained intensivist in UAE and founding a department of emergency and critical care. How did you achieve this success?

Building up critical care and emergency medicine is my life journey. For me it started by identifying the obstacles and challenges. My plan started with building up the team that will make things possible, a team that has the power, tolerance, dedication and commitment; then it was by convincing people and gaining the support and resources; Dubai is the land of miracles where everybody can live his dream.

There is global interest in “event medicine”. How did you achieve success with setting up sports events emergency teams for major sporting events in Dubai?

Achieving success is down to teamwork. It is never a one man show; as a leader you need to delegate to the right person so they deliver their best at the right time; results build themselves. Aim for your target without distraction and you will reach it, the difference is only when you will reach it and it depends on the energy you give. In teamwork I believe in “trust everybody and check everything”.

What are your key areas of interest and research?

My interests are multidisciplinary; I believe in critical care.

Psychology and human behaviour is a major determinant if you love something. I am also interested in emotional intelligence and leadership.

What are your top management tips?

Human resources: delegate to the right person. There is no stupid person; there might be an ignorant team mate that needs to be educated and motivated (trust everybody check everything)