Professor Juliusz Jakubaszko

Professor Juliusz Jakubaszko is a graduate of the Faculty of Medicine at the Medical Academy of Wroclaw, Poland. He is a specialist in the field of anesthesiology and intensive care (1974), and in emergency medicine (2000).

Prof. Jakubaszko obtained his postdoctoral academic degree (which in Poland is known as a “habilitated doctor  of medical sciences”) in 1990, and in 2003 he became a full professor. He organized and headed the first academic departments of emergency medicine in Poland. These programs were launched at the Collegium Medicum  in Bydgoszcz (2001), and at the Medical Academy in Wroclaw (2004). His main areas of research include: anesthesiology and intensive care (the monitoring of the vital functions of critically ill patients, renal replacement therapy and multi-organ failure), emergency medicine (including: advanced life support, post-resuscitation care, life-threatening conditions, management of trauma patients, organization and education in emergency medicine systems, and disaster medicine) and finally, hyperbaric medicine (the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in emergency medicine and intensive care). Furthermore, Prof. Jakubaszko performed the first continuous arteriovenous hemofiltration (CAVH) of an intensive care unit patient in Poland (December, 1983).

Prof. Jakubaszko is the author of over 300 scientific publications. He has also edited the first twelve Polish editions  of various British and American emergency medicine textbooks. These textbooks include: “NMS Emergency Medicine”, S.H.Plantz, J.N.Adler, “Tintinalli’s Emergency Medicine Manual”, D.M. Cline, O.J. Ma, J.E. Tintinalli, “Pediatric Emergency Medicine”, G.R. Strange, W.R. Ahrens, R.W. Schafermeyer, W.C. Toepper, “Textbook of Pediatric Emergency Procedures”, Ch. King, F. Henretig, “ABC of Major Trauma”, P. Driscoll, D. Skinner, E. Earlam, and “ABC of Resuscitation”, M.C. Colquhoun, A.J. Handley, T.R. Evans. Prof. Jakubaszko is also the editor of numerous Polish medical textbooks for physicians, nurses and paramedics. In 2003, he authored “Ratownik Medyczny” (“Paramedic”), which is the first textbook dedicated to the training of paramedics in Poland. Moreover, he is the founder and editor-in-chief of the Polish Journal of Emergency Medicine.

Prof. Jakubaszko has served as an advisor to 17 doctoral candidates. He also created and initiated both the first emergency medicine specialty program for physicians, as well as the first undergraduate educational program for licensed paramedics in Poland.

Prof. Jakubaszko is actively involved in a number of scientific societies. As a co-founder of the Club of Leuven (1992) and of the European Society for Emergency Medicine (EuSEM), he also served as the society’s Vice-President between 1994 and 2002. Furthermore, he is a member and co-founder of the Polish Society for Emergency Medicine (1999), having served as the first President of the society from 1999 to 2019. His numerous honorary memberships include: the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), the American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM), the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine (IAEM), and the European Society for Emergency Medicine (EuSEM). Moreover, he is also a member of the International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM), and served as the IFEM’s European Ambassador until 2018. He is also a member and co-founder of the Polish Resuscitation Council (2000), and a member of the Polish Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy.

Prof. Jakubaszko is regarded as a pioneer in the creation and development of emergency medicine in Poland. His achievements include: organizing the first Intensive Emergency Medicine Specialty Courses for physicians (1999, 2000, 2002), participating in the development of the necessary legislation related to the creation of emergency medicine, as well as the Emergency Medical Service as a part of the Polish healthcare system (1998, 2001). In addition, he was the guiding force which led to the development of the organizational structures of the initial emergency departments in Poland. He is considered to be the “father” of a number of definitions, phrases and terminology related to emergency medicine that have become widely used in the Polish medical lexicon. He also initiated the development of the first emergency medicine specialty program for physicians, and in November of 2010 he was appointed by the Health Minister as chairman of a group of experts commissioned to update this program.

Prof. Jakubaszko organized the initial Central European Emergency Medicine International Congress (CEEM) in September, 2000, as well as the next six CEEM congresses (2004, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019). Currently, he continues to organize the annual Winter Symposium of Emergency Medicine and Intensive Care, as he has done since 1992. In addition, he has played a role in the organization of the EuSEM congresses since 1998.

From 1999 to 2003 and from 2008 to 2014, Prof. Jakubaszko served in the role of National Consultant for Emergency Medicine in Poland, and from 2004 to 2008 he was the voivodship consultant for the region of Lower Silesia. He has been a consultant for the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Centers in Siemianowice Slaskie (2003) and in Wroclaw (2006). Between 1994 and 2000 he was the European Hospital and Healthcare Federation’s (HOPE) national coordinator of the program for young hospital managers.

Prof. Jakubaszko has received a number of honorary awards for his achievements. These include: the “Emergency Medicine Founders Award 2017”, for which he was nominated by the American Academy of Emergency Medicine, and a special award recognition from the Health Minister for his achievements in the creation and development of EMS in Poland (2012). In 2018 he was awarded the “Lower Silesian Key of Success”, an honor that recognized him as “The Greatest Personality in the Promotion of the Region”. Moreover, his prestigious awards include, the Gold Cross of Merit (1997), the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2005), and the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2013).