[Birth and development of the FESUM (European Federation of Hand Emergency Services)].

The European Federation of Hand Emergency Services (FESUM) was founded in France in 1979 and established all over the country and extended to other European countries in 1989. The aim of this federation is to assure the best possible treatment for hand injuries, thanks to the coordination of the orthopaedic or plastic surgery department which satisfy the standards established and controlled by the federation as well as the development and research in the field of hand trauma and applications of microsurgery. In collaboration with the French Society of Hand Surgery and the French College of Hand Surgery, it fulfills a triple mission of treatment, teaching and research in the specific field of this surgery. The author evokes the present role of the FESUM and the future problems to be solved in order to develop this specialized surgery which plays a major social and economic role.