FERC and FESAIC titles for the first women in the Czech Republic, from the Departmenzt of Simulation Medicine, Faculty of Medicine

Worldwide, only about one hundred and thirty resuscitation medicine professionals can add the title FERC - Fellowship of the European Resuscitation Council - to their name. This year, Dr. Jana Djakow from the Department of Simulation Medicine at Masaryk University Medical School was also among them. She was officially awarded as the most distinguished member of the European Resuscitation Council for her long-term contribution to resuscitation medicine at the beginning of November at the annual ERC Resuscitation Congress, which took place this year in Athens, Greece. Dr. Djakow is not only the first Czech woman out of a total of about twenty women to be awarded the FERC title so far, but also one of only about six FERC title holders who are primarily involved in pediatric resuscitation.

"Within the ERC, I seek to advocate for and represent a minority but important group of medical professionals who are primarily involved with pediatric patients in critical condition and those with and beyond cardiac arrest, " says Dr. Djakow. "Cardiac arrest in childhood is a rare but often devastating event, with pediatric patients generally having worse resuscitation outcomes than adults, which in my opinion requires further efforts to expand public and healthcare professional education, better implementation of recommended practices into practice, as well as new and innovative strategies to further advance the field."

She started her journey to the prestigious award in 2012 by participating in one of the first ERC courses organised in the Czech Republic. Over the years, she became involved in the organisation of similar courses not only in the Czech Republic but also abroad and, in addition to being a member of the Czech Resuscitation Council, she is also involved in the ERC Committee for Science and Education in the field of paediatric resuscitation. In addition, she participates in the creation of the European Resuscitation Council's recommended procedures, which are then followed by both professional healthcare professionals and forensic experts.

"For me personally, the award is a small independent confirmation that the path I have chosen perhaps makes at least some sense to other people. It is a path that is also redeemed by the fact that I leave my family more often than most Czech mothers. This award belongs equally to my husband and children, " says Dr. Djakow in her thank you note, pointing out an important aspect of her dedicated work. "And of course, a part of this award also goes to my wonderful bosses (Daniel Blažek, MD, and Petr Štourač, MD, PhD), who also support me in all these activities. At the same time, the award is also a commitment for the future, that I want to continue on this path for a while, and a future promise that one day I will be able to say that perhaps thanks to the butterfly effect, somewhere, the survival rate of children with a good outcome after cardiac arrest has increased, or that we will be able to prevent more cardiac arrests altogether."

Dr. Djakow's exceptional award is the second international achievement of a similar type for the team from the Department of Simulation Medicine at the MU Faculty of Medicine. Back in May, Associate Professor Martina Kosinová received the FESAIC - Fellowship of European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care - or the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Award for her contribution to the field. The title, which two years ago was awarded to Professor Petr Štourač, the head of the institute, as the first representative of the Czech Republic, this year was awarded to his deputy as the first woman in the Czech Republic.

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