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The Wound Management Association of Ireland (WMAOI) was established in May 1996 by a multidisciplinary group of healthcare professionals who were interested in raising the profile of wound care within Ireland.

The aims and objective of the association are:

• The education and update of wound management in order to promote the highest standard of wound care possible.
• To promote research into all aspects of wound management.
• To encourage a multidisciplinary approach to wound management.
• To issue reports and other publication on the works of the association.
  

The WMAOI has a constitution drawn up by the Council and adopted at our first Annual General Meeting, in September 1997.

In order to fulfil the objectives, the association has organized itself into four regions:

Northern Region: Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Derry and Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Monaghan, Sligo and Tyrone
Midlands Region: Galway, Kildare, Laoise, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Offaly, Roscommon and Westmeath.
Southern Region: Carlow, Cork, Clare, Kerry, Kilkenny, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford
Dublin Wicklow Region: Dublin City, County, and Wicklow areas.

Members are free to choose whichever region they may wish to join.

Regional Planning

Each region runs independently and self-finances its own regional activities. The regions have their own organizing committee and report to the Council. Recommendation suggested that, ideally, each region should host four activities throughout the year, such as study evenings and one-day seminars. Some regions were (and still are) experiencing difficulties with travel because of the vast geographic areas covered, and have further subdivided their areas. Our constitution will have to be changed and agreed by members at our next AGM should the Council decide to re-assess the regional divisions.

Council consisting of three representatives from each of the four regional divisions within the association governs the WMAOI. The Council has four officers: President; Secretary; Treasurer; and Membership Secretary. Past Presidents include James Kelly (Northern Branch), Helen Strapp (Dublin Branch), Joseph Baron Hall (Northern Branch), and the current President is Bernadette Kerry (Midlands Branch).

WMAOI Membership

From the outset, the association has aimed to be multi-disciplinary and is, therefore, open to any person interested in wound care and supportive of the above aims and objectives. Membership entitles a person to receive details of the educational activities, publications, seminars, study evenings, and major conferences organized by the association. At the time the WMAOI was formed, Council decided that it was not yet in a position to publish its own journal. In lieu of this we approached other wound-care organizations that were already publishing their own journals and proposed subscribing to one of them. As a result, WMAOI members are currently affiliated members of the Tissue Viability Society (TVS) and receive all the journals issued by the TVS. We are presently reviewing this situation and looking at organizations that might further bene-fit our members.

In May 2002 we launched our website:

www.wmaoi.org

from which you can download membership forms for the association. We are in our infancy with the website, but plan to add to it and develop it so that it can be used as a resource for all our members. We will be delighted to advertise any upcoming conference seminars, study days, etc., on the site.

Conferences

The past six years has seen the WMAOI evolve and grow stronger and independent. During the first three years our National Conference was organized and funded by Smith & Nephew in association with the WMAOI. In 1999 we made the big leap forward and took on this mammoth task ourselves. The Dublin Region very successful hosted the 4th National Conference in 1999, in Dublin, followed by the Northern Branch hosting the 5th National Conference in 2000, in Belfast.

In 2001 we did not have our annual conference as we were approached by the EWMA who were planning to have their annual meeting in Dublin. They invited us to co-host this event which was held in May at the RDS Pavilion in Dublin. Council arranged for a local working committee from the Dublin Region to assist the EWMA con-ferencing organizers to source venues, hotels and social events for the meeting. It was a wonderful conference and thoroughly enjoyed by all.

The Midlands Region hosted our recent 2002 Conference (25-26 September) in Tullamore, Co. Offaly. This year we looked beyond our own island and association, and brought to the conference well renowned and expert speakers to impart their knowledge and clinical expertise to us. They came from a variety of different international organizations:

Peter Vowden, President of EWMA, and Kathyrn Vowden.
Professor Keith Harding, University of Wales, and WHRU.
Gary Sibbald, Canadian Wound Care Association.
Dr Liza Ovington, President of the American Academy of Wound Management, USA.
Professor Davina Gosnell, Dean of Kent State University, OHIO, USA.
Professor David Leaper, University Hospital of North Tees, UK.
George Cherry, EPUAP and Oxford Wound Healing Institute, UK.
Ruth Ludwick, Associate Professor of Kent State University, OHIO, USA.
Maureen Benbow, Tissue Viability Nurse, UK.
Patrick Glackin, Director of Nursing and Midwifery Planning and Development Units, MHB, Ireland

The theme was Wound Management Updates and Recommended Best Practice, on Pressure Ulcers, Diabetic Foot, Leg Ulcers and Use of Antiseptics.

Other presentations included:

• Evaluation of pressure ulcer risk assessment tools,
• Effectiveness of current pressure ulcer prevention strategies,
• Wound watch, and assessment,
• Wound bed preparation,
• Role of MMP's in wound healing,
• Importance of managing exudate and controlling moisture balance.
• How to use modern technology to keep updated with new advances and reports in wound healing, and how to progress from practice to publishing.
• What is happening in wound care today and the future?
• How can we achieve clinical nurse specialist roles in wound healing?
  

The conference was well attended with delegates from all over Ireland, and some delegates from the UK and USA. All those who attended found it both thought provoking and stimulating. Our special thanks to our five major sponsors: Convatec; Coloplast; Johnson & Johnson; Meditec Medical; and Smith & Nephew; and to all the exhibitors at the conference. The conference gala dinner on Wednesday evening was enjoyed by all, with guest speaker, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Brain Cowen, addressing the delegates. This was followed by live entertainment by the renowned international singer and song writer Brendan Keeley who gave what can only be described as a fantastic performance and had everyone dancing into the early hours of the morning.

Next year's conference will be hosted by the Cork Branch of the WMAOI and will be held in Rochestown Park Hotel, Cork, on 24-25 September 2003. Further details are available on the website, and from the Conference Secretary at the address below.

For those organizations who have not added us to their links page please do so and let us know and we will add you to ours. Collaboration is the key to furthering knowledge.

Seventh National WMAOI Conference
Rochestown Park Hotel, Cork
24-25 September 2003.

Further details from the Conference Secretary:
Lucette Murray, 10 Beaumont Avenue,
Ballintemple, Cork, Ireland
Tel: 021 429 3918 Fax: 021 429 3930
E-mail: Lucette@iol.ie