Purpose and Historical International Academic Status
The Western Pacific Association of Critical Care Medicine (WPACCM) was founded in 1981, with Dr. Chun-Jean Lee as the director. On March 28, 1982, Lee along with other Taiwanese doctors founded “WPACCM, Taiwan, ROC” with the intentions to develop critical care medicine and promote its research; “WPACCM, Taiwan, ROC” represented the ROC branch of the WPACCM, and our society was one of the founding members of the WPACCM. In 1983, Lee was promoted to the vice president of the WPACCM, and he hosted the second WPACCM annual congress in Taipei in that year. Lee became the president of the WPACCM in 1985. In 1997, Dr. Chen-Hsen Lee became the vice president of the WPACCM and hosted the ninth WPACCM annual congress in Taipei along with Ming-Ho Wu, the president of the WPACCM, Taiwan. The annual congress was coorganized by major domestic medical societies and revealed the comprehensiveness and diversity in the development of critical care medicine in Taiwan.
History and National Academic Research
In response to the establishment of a specialist system in Taiwan, President Shu-Hsun Chu renamed the WPACCM, Taiwan, ROC, as the Society of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine (SECCM), Taiwan, ROC, in 1990. In addition, the Journal of the SECCM, Taiwan, ROC, was established, with the Chairperson Alan Ronald Talbot as the editor-in-chief. In 1991, under the leadership of President Yuan-Teh Lee, the SECCM established the specialist system; in 1993, three board certifications were established for critical care physicians, traumatologists, and emergency physicians. In 1994, the Taiwan Society of Emergency Medicine was founded; thus, the SECCM withdrew from its role in emergency care and focused on first-aid and critical care medicine. Regarding first-aid care, to improve advanced cardiovascular life support (ACLS) training, the SECCM, under the leaderships of President Shih-Ming Wang and his successor Ming-Ho Wu, cofounded the ACLS Joint Committee with the Taiwan Society of Cardiology and the Taiwan Society of Emergency Medicine in 1997. The affairs of the ACLS Joint Committee were managed by the secretary division of the SECCM. This committee was joined by the Taiwan Society of Anesthesiologists in 1998, the Taiwan Society of Critical Care Medicine (TSCCM) in 2000, and the Taiwan Society of Geriatric Emergency and Critical Care Medicine in 2008, resulting in the formation of a six-society committee. Regarding critical care, in the annual congress held in 1997, the SECCM established board certification programs for intensivists. In 1998, some SECCM members resigned and founded the TSCCM; some SECCM members also possessed memberships in the TSCCM and vice versa. The SECCM and the TSCCM competed against and collaborated with each other for the development of critical care medicine in Taiwan. Because of the importance of training and certification for intensivists in Taiwan, the SECCM, under the leaderships of President Cheng-Ho Tsai and his successor Gau-Jun Tang, founded the Joint Board Certification Committee of Intensivists with the TSCCM and the Taiwan Society of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine in 2004; this committee ensured the continuing education and board certification of intensivists. In December 2012, under the leadership of President Shyr-Chyr Chen, the joint committee became a six-society committee after it was joined by the Taiwan Surgical Association, the Taiwan Society of Cardiology, and the Taiwan Society of Anesthesiologists. Regarding its participation in government policy formulation, the SECCM, under the leadership of President Rick Sai-Chuen Wu and his successor Wen-Jone Chen, assisted the Ministry of Health and Welfare (formerly the Department of Health) in establishing the Emergency Patient Referral Act; thus, the SECCM formed the Emergency Medical Assistance Advisory Committee and promoted palliative care and organ donation.
Regarding publications pertaining to academic development and training for critical care medicine, in addition to the SECCM journal, the SECCM, under the leadership of President Yung-Zu Tseng, published the book Trauma and Surgical Critical Care Medicine, with Dr. Chen-Hsen Lee as the management director and Dr. Gau-Jun Tang as the editor-in-chief. In 2012, President Tzong-Luen Wang published the Guide to First Aid in Taiwan. In 2016, the Guide on Clinical Operations in Critical Care was planned by President Shyr-Chyr Chen and his successor Kuo-Chen Cheng and was published by Dr. Juey-Jen Hwang and Secretary General Wei-Tien Chang who served as the editors-in-chief. In 2018, a new edition of teaching material on critical care was planned by President Wen-Jinn Liaw and was published by the Chairperson Chia-Sheng Chang. To integrate the capacity of the medial societies on critical care medicine academic development and international exchange, the SECCM has actively collaborated with the TSCCM. Annual meetings have been cohosted since 2015. Furthermore, in 2016, the journals of both societies were integrated into the Resuscitation & Intensive Care Medicine, copublished by the editors-in-chief Wen-Jinn Liaw of the SECCM and the Chairperson of the TSCMM. In 2015, both societies cohosted the Taiwan Pain, Agitation, and Delirium (Taiwan PAD) Expert Consensus Meeting, jointly established the guidelines of PAD, and copublished a comprehensive discourse on PAD in their integrated journal to improve the quality of medical care for PAD. In 2018, the SECCM assisted the Taiwan Society of Nephrology in hosting the Second Asia Pacific Acute Kidney Injury and Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy 2018 Congress in Taipei. All of the aforementioned collaborations were implemented with the relevant societies to improve the quality of emergency and critical care in Taiwan.
New Opportunities and International Academic Exchange
The SECCM has an extraordinary history of international academic exchange, in which former presidents invited foreign experts and scholars to speak at our annual meetings. Through the promotion efforts of President Kuo-Chen Cheng, supervisors, directors, and Secretary General Yu-Chang Yeh, the SECCM, under the leadership of President Kuo-Chen Cheng, participated in the 2016 Annual Congress of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) in Milan, Italy. Cheng also signed with ESICM President Daniel De Backer and the Chair of the Division of Scientific Affairs of the ESICM Maurizo Cecconi to establish a dual membership relationship between the two societies. In return, De Backer participated in the joint annual congress of the SECCM and TSCCM in 2017 to attach a sense of importance to the relationship and cooperation between the SECCM and the ESICM. Accordingly, SECCM members receive dual membership discounts when they join the ESICM; when participating in events cohosted by both societies in Asia, SECCM members with valid memberships can enjoy the discounts received by ESICM members. In 2017, the SECCM assisted the ESICM in hosting the first Euro-Asia Critical Care Conference in Hong Kong, for which President Wen-Jinn Liaw served as the chairperson. This congress also provided an opportunity for exchange with the critical care medicine societies of Hong Kong and South Korea. In the same year, Secretary General Yu-Chang Yeh drafted a memorandum with Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society (ANZICS) President Marc Ziegenfuss to prepare for exchange and research collaboration on critical care medicine. In 2018, the SECCM assisted the ANZICS in organizing the SG–ANZICS Asia Pacific Intensive Care Forum in Singapore, which provided an opportunity for exchange with the critical care medicine society of Singapore.
The WPACCM has been under reorganization in recent years, and it was renamed as the Asia Pacific Association of Critical Care Medicine (APACCM). In 2017, through the promotion efforts of Prof. Chen-Hsen Lee, Prof. Gau-Jin Tang, and President Wen-Jinn Liaw, the founding members, the SECCM actively participated in reorganization tasks under the leadership of APACCM President Ross Freebairn. The reorganized APACCM aims to promote academic exchange and training for critical care medicine in the Pan-Asia Pacific region as its top priority. With its new website, it facilitates collaboration among the members of various societies. Under the direction of President Wen-Jinn Liaw, supervisors, directors, and secretaries, the SECCM negotiated with World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine (WFSICCM) President Jean-Louis Vincent to become a member. In 2017, SECCM Director Khee-Siang Chan participated in the annual congress of the WFSICCM in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and formally announced that the SECCM had joined the WFSICCM, leading the SECCM to the international domain and expanding international academic exchange and research collaboration for critical care medicine for Taiwan.
Future Directions
The SECCM shall adhere to its founding purpose in continuing to collaborate with other critical care medicine societies in Taiwan and to promote critical care medicine as a specialist medical field approved by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The SECCM will also strengthen basic critical care medicine training. Workshops on critical care echocardiography, respiratory apparatus, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, acute kidney injury and continuous renal replacement therapy, nutrition, cryotherapy, post-resuscitation care, and palliative care for critically ill patients will be regularly held as advanced critical care medicine training, thereby maximizing the ability of certificated intensivists to care for critically ill patients in Taiwan. To strengthen exchange among members and improve membership benefits, under the direction of President Wen-Jinn Liaw, supervisors, directors, and secretaries, in 2017, the SECCM established its Facebook page and started publishing member newsletters. The SECCM website was thoroughly updated in 2018 to improve its membership services and academic exchange platform. Regarding international academic exchange and research collaborations, the SECCM will continue to collaborate with the other international societies, striving for membership discounts in international conferences and recommending exceptional members as speakers in conferences or as the representatives or directors of international joint committees of critical care medicine. The SECCM will also continue its international academic exchange reward programs to enhance its international visibility and facilitate international academic exchange. Additionally, the SECCM will learn from the successful experience of the ESICM and ANZICS in multicenter research collaborations. In 2018, under the direction of Secretary General Yu-Chang Yeh and President Wen-Jinn Liaw, the SECCM formed the Research Committee on Clinical Trials and Databases to establish a research platform to enable its members to initiate or join domestic or international multicenter clinical trials and database research. The research results can be applied directly to solve the problems regarding critical care in Taiwan and contribute to the development of international critical care medicine. The SECCM aims to promote its academic status in international critical care medicine by enabling and assisting its members in completing and publishing critical studies and by facilitating their pride as members of the society. The SECCM welcomes all members interested in academic development, training, research collaboration, and international cooperation to devote their efforts for critical care medicine development in Taiwan. The SECCM also expects its established members to encourage new young members to work together for the advancement of critical care medicine in the future.
The 21th the Board of Directors and Supervisory Commission
(October 15, 2024-October 14, 2026)| TITLE | NAME |
| President | Wei-Tien CHANG |
| Vice President | Wen-Lin FAN |
| Honorary President | Kar-Lok WONG |
| Honorary Executive Director | Chun-Jean LEE |
| Honorary Executive Director | Shu-Hsun CHU |
| Honorary Executive Director | Yuan-Teh LEE |
| Honorary Executive Director | Chen-Hsen LEE |
| Honorary Executive Director | Shih-Ming WANG |
| Honorary Executive Director | Ming-Ho WU |
| Honorary Executive Director | Yung-Zu TSENG |
| Honorary Executive Director | Fang-Yue LIN |
| Honorary Executive Director | Cheng-Ho TSAI |
| Honorary Executive Director | Gau-Jun TANG |
| Honorary Executive Director | Rick, Sai-Chuen WU |
| Honorary Executive Director | Wen-Jone CHEN |
| Honorary Executive Director | Tzong-Luen WANG |
| Honorary Executive Director | Shyr-Chyr CHEN |
| Honorary Executive Director | Kuo-Chen CHENG |
| Honorary Executive Director | Wen-Jinn LIAW |
| Honorary Executive Director | Wai-Mau CHOI |
| Executive Board（Standing） | Dorji HARNOD |
| Executive Board（Standing） | Yu-Chang YEH |
| Executive Board（Standing） | Chin-Ming CHEN |
| Executive Board（Standing） | Gion-Teng YIANG |
| Executive Board（Standing） | Che-Kim TAN |
| Executive Board（Standing） | Khee-Siang CHAN |
| Executive Board（Standing） | Chu-Chung CHOU |
| Executive Board | David, Hung-Tsang YEN |
| Executive Board | Chip-Jin NG |
| Executive Board | Chien-Chang LEE |
| Executive Board | Yen-Ta HUANG |
| Executive Board | Yu-Long CHEN |
| Executive Board | Chen-Hsu WANG |
| Executive Board | Chih-Hsin HSU |
| Executive Board | Sui-Sum KUNG |
| Executive Board | Chueng-He LU |
| Executive Board | Wen-Han CHANG |
| Executive Board | Chia-Chang Chuang |
| Executive Board | Chen-Yu WANG |
| Executive Board | Bor-Jen LEE |
| Executive Board | Chih-Ching YEN |
| Executive Board | An-Yi WANG |
| Executive Board | I-Ting TSAI |
| Executive Board | Te-Li CHEN |
| Executive Board | Gwo-Ping JONG |
| Control Board（Standing） | Yin-Yi HAN |
| Control Board（Standing） | Chien-Hua HUANG |
| Control Board（Standing） | Nai-Kaun CHOU |
| Control Board | Yi-Gong LEE |
| Control Board | Yih-Sharng CHEN |
| Control Board | Sung-Yuan HU |
| Control Board | Hon-Ping MA |
| Control Board | Chia-Sheng CHANG |
| Control Board | Larry Lee-Ying SOO |
| Secretary General | Tao-Min HUANG |
| Vice Secretary General | Chao-Yen HUANG |
| Vice Secretary General | Han-Siong TOH |
| Vice Secretary General | Guan-Jin HO |
| Vice Secretary General | Szu-Han WANG |
| Vice Secretary General | Shih-Ching LIU |
