Message from the President SSCCEM

Dr Ranjana  M Seneviratne

Critically   ill   patients the world   over   have   benefitted   immensely   with   the specialised care given to them by competent health care professionals.  We are indeed  happy to witness the progress  made in  Sri Lanka  towards  providing  the  best  possible  care  to  our  critically ill patients.

The Sri Lankan Society of Critical Care and Emergency Medicine has been since its inception of   over   a   decade been working tirelessly to promote the highest standard of care to the critically ill.

The   Annual Congress 2015 of SSCCEM  brings together a wealth of expertise from all around  the  world  to  share  their  knowledge  and  skills   with  our  health care professional.  We welcome all of you the members of the SSCCEM and health care professionals with an interest in critical care medicine to the Annual Congress 2015.

My deepest gratitude to the Emergency Physicians from Australia led by Prof. Shane Curren, Dr Deepak Govil intensive care specialist from India, Dr Ross Freebairn Intensive Care specialist from New Zealand, Prof Mohan Tiru  and   Prof  Rahul Goswami  Emergency  Physician  from Singapore and  Dr Nilantha  Lenora  Emergency  Physician   from  the  USA  for  the  continued support towards the SSCCEM.
Message from the Chief Guest - SSCCEM 2015
Honourable Dr Rajitha Senaratne - Minister of Health and Indigenous Medicine


The health care needs of the critically ill patient have been the focus of many amongst the health care providers in the recent past in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Society of Critical Care and Emergency Medicine has been the foremost organization in Sri Lanka to promote this concept. I am indeed happy to be a part of the Society’s effort to promote care to the critically ill.

We have taken great pains to establish critical care units to serve our patients’ throughout the country and hope to improve the standard of care further to match the quality of care found globally.


The current A & E policy being implemented by my ministry will undoubtedly improve the standard of care provided to the critically ill patients in the very near future.


I warmly welcome all the foreign resource persons from Australia, India, New Zealand, Singapore and USA attending the SSCCEM annual scientific sessions 2015.


May I wish the Society well and encourage them to continue their efforts to promote and improve the health care provided to the critically ill patients of this country.


                                    Guest of Honour - SSCCEM 2015

          Associate Professor Ross Freebairn

 MBChB, Dip Obst, FANZCA, FRCPE, FCICM,

 Consultant, Intensive Care Services, Hawke’s Bay Hospital, Hastings NZ

 Immediate Past President & Censor , College of Intensive Care Medicine,

 Medical Director, NZ Air Ambulance Service

 Adjunct Associate Professor, Chinese University of Hong Kong,

 Vice President APACCM

Ross Freebairn  is an  Intensive  Care  Consultant, Intensive  Care Services at  Hawke’s  Bay  Hospital, in  Hastings, New  Zealand.  He is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the  Chinese  University of Hong  Kong,  an  Honorary  Clinical  Senior Lecturer at the University of  Auckland  and  Medical Director for NZ Air Ambulance Service. He is undertaking a sabbatical placement at Jurong Health in Singapore.
He  is  the immediate past  President of   the  College  of Intensive Care Medicine( CICM)  of  Australia  And  New Zealand , the  Current CICM Censor, chaired the CICM Curriculum Review Committee and an examiner for the CICM First part Examination. 

His research interests include spontaneous breathing in ARDS, neuro-muscular blockade, PEEP and ventilation in the critically ill.  Dr. Freebairn is one of the original “BASIC” course collaborators, a member of the BASIC steering group, is actively involved in BASIC and other education courses running in NZ, Australia, Africa,  Asia, the Middle East, the Pacific and Europe. He is also President Elect of the Asian and Pacific Association of Critical Care Medicine.