Terms of Use

ESBICM — Educational Society of Bedside Intensive Care Medicine

Last updated: 3 May 2026 — Version 2.0

Important: By using any part of the Service, you confirm that you have read and accepted these Terms of Use in full. If you do not agree with any part of them, please do not register or use the Service.

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of all digital services offered by ESBICM, including the ESBICM website (esbicm.org), the Membership programme, the Discussion Board (formerly Forums), the Mentorship Forum, the ESBICM Café, The ICU Channel on YouTube, the ESBICM channels on WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, X, and other social-media platforms, the ESBICM Newsletter (delivered via the ESBICM Google Group or any successor platform), the ESBICM mobile application(s), ESBICM courses and webinars, and any other digital service, channel, platform, or communication operated under the ESBICM name, whether existing today or established in future (together, the “Service”).

By registering as a member, accessing any part of the Service, or otherwise using esbicm.org, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not register or use the Service.

These Terms should be read together with the ESBICM Disclaimer, ESBICM Privacy Policy, and ESBICM Paid Services & Refund Policy, which together with these Terms form the complete agreement between you and ESBICM.

1. About ESBICM

ESBICM (“we”, “us”, “our”) is the Educational Society of Bedside Intensive Care Medicine — a registered, non-commercial educational society founded in 2018 by Dr. Ankur Gupta, Intensivist. ESBICM is headquartered at GG-37, Scheme No. 54, Vijaynagar, Indore, Madhya Pradesh 452010, India.

ESBICM operates under the governance framework set out in the ESBICM Organisational Structure & Standard Operating Procedures, which establishes the Founder’s Council, Executive Committee, Academic & Research Committee, Scientific Programmes & Events Committee, ESBICM Office, Faculty Network, Advisory Board, and Mentorship Forum.

2. Acceptance of These Terms

By accessing or using the Service in any form — whether by browsing the website, registering as a member, posting on the Discussion Board, watching content on The ICU Channel, or any other interaction — you accept these Terms and the documents referenced above. If you are using the Service on behalf of an organisation, you confirm you have authority to bind that organisation to these Terms.

3. Eligibility

The Service is intended for qualified healthcare professionals and students of healthcare professions involved in the care of critically ill patients. To register or use the Service, you must:

(a) Be at least eighteen (18) years of age;

(b) Have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement under the laws of your jurisdiction; and

ESBICM reserves the right to verify any information you provide and to refuse, suspend, or terminate registration where the information is inaccurate, incomplete, or where the user does not meet the eligibility criteria.

4. Service Availability

ESBICM reserves the right to restrict, limit, or decline registration and access to the Service in specific regions or jurisdictions for operational, security, regulatory, or other reasons that ESBICM determines, in its discretion, may affect its ability to provide the Service appropriately. Where such restrictions apply, applicants from affected regions will be notified through the membership application process. ESBICM will communicate decisions with sensitivity and respect, while reserving its right not to disclose specific reasons.

5. Membership

ESBICM offers two categories of membership: Life Member (open to doctors and nurses who practise modern medicine, with voting rights within ESBICM) and Associate Life Member (open to paramedics, non-modern-medicine practitioners, and other healthcare professionals, without voting rights within ESBICM).

Lifetime membership is provided at no cost and does not require renewal. Membership may, however, be suspended or revoked by the Executive Committee for breach of these Terms, breach of the ESBICM Code of Conduct, misrepresentation of professional credentials, or other conduct that brings ESBICM into disrepute. The full membership framework — including who can join, how to join, member rights and responsibilities, and the conduct provisions — is set out in the ESBICM Organisational Structure & Standard Operating Procedures.

A separate registration is required to access the ESBICM Discussion Board (formerly Forums). A Discussion Board login does not by itself confer ESBICM Membership. Membership Numbers are issued only after the Membership Application is verified by the ESBICM Office.

6. Code of Conduct

By using the Service, you agree to abide by the ESBICM Code of Conduct, set out in full in the ESBICM Organisational Structure & Standard Operating Procedures. In summary:

You will treat all members, faculty, and staff with dignity and professionalism. You will not misrepresent ESBICM, its membership, or its credentials. You will not post content that is defamatory, abusive, hateful, threatening, obscene, infringes intellectual property rights, contains personal information of others, or is otherwise unlawful. You will not use the Service to promote commercial products, paid courses, or for-profit services that conflict with ESBICM’s mission of freely accessible and affordable Bedside Critical Care education.

Breaches may result in content removal, account suspension, or permanent revocation of membership, in proportion to the severity of the breach. Decisions on enforcement are made by the Executive Committee in accordance with the SOP.

7. User Content

When you submit content to the Service — whether forum posts, comments, case discussions, images, videos, or any other material (“User Content”) — you confirm that:

(a) You own the content or have the right to share it;

(b) The content does not violate any law or third-party right;

(c) Where any patient image, case, or clinical data is shared, all identifying information has been removed and, where required, appropriate consent has been obtained.

You retain copyright in your User Content. By submitting it, you grant ESBICM a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable licence to use, display, publish, reproduce, distribute, and archive that content in connection with the Service and ESBICM’s mission. ESBICM may remove or modify any User Content at its discretion, with or without notice, where it considers the content to breach these Terms.

8. ESBICM Content & Intellectual Property

All content created by ESBICM, by Faculty Network members through ESBICM platforms, or under the ESBICM name — including lectures, videos, course materials, publications, databases, algorithms, the ICU Visual e-Library, and educational resources — is the intellectual property of ESBICM, as set out in the ESBICM Organisational Structure & Standard Operating Procedures.

You may access and use this content for your personal continuing education, non-commercial study, and professional reference. You may not republish, redistribute, or commercially exploit ESBICM content without explicit written permission from the Founder President. The ESBICM name, logo, and registered mark (®) may not be used by external parties without explicit written permission.

9. Paid Services

Most ESBICM services, including membership and core educational content, are provided free of charge. A limited number of services — such as specialty courses — may carry a reasonable fee, kept deliberately affordable in alignment with ESBICM’s mission. Refunds, where applicable, are governed by the ESBICM Paid Services & Refund Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

10. Third-Party Services

The Service incorporates content and features from third parties, including but not limited to YouTube (via YouTube API Services for The ICU Channel), Google services, reCAPTCHA, the Gravatar avatar service, and the XenForo discussion-board platform. Use of these features is also subject to the terms and privacy policies of the respective providers.

YouTube API Services. The Service uses YouTube API Services to display video content from our official YouTube channel, The ICU Channel, and to enable users to search for videos within that channel. By using our Service, you acknowledge and agree to be bound by the YouTube Terms of Service and the Google Privacy Policy. You can review the YouTube Terms of Service at https://www.youtube.com/t/terms and the Google Privacy Policy at https://www.google.com/policies/privacy.

Linked third-party websites are provided for convenience only. ESBICM does not endorse and is not responsible for the content, availability, or privacy practices of any third-party website.

11. Privacy

ESBICM’s collection, use, and protection of your personal data is governed by the ESBICM Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms. By using the Service, you consent to the data practices described in that policy. ESBICM complies with applicable data-protection laws, including the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, of India.

12. ESBICM Does Not Sell or Trade User Data

ESBICM is a non-commercial educational society. We do not sell, rent, trade, or otherwise transfer your personal data to any third party for commercial purposes. Your name, contact details, professional information, and platform activity are used solely to operate the Service, communicate with you about ESBICM, and fulfil ESBICM’s educational mission.

This is not a regulatory minimum we observe. It is a core commitment of ESBICM. The integrity of the trust members place in us by sharing their professional details is something we have honoured since 2018, and will continue to honour.

The full description of how your data is collected, used, retained, and protected is set out in the ESBICM Privacy Policy.

13. Suspension & Termination

ESBICM reserves the right to suspend or terminate your access to all or part of the Service, with or without cause, with or without notice, where:

(a) You breach these Terms or the ESBICM Code of Conduct;

(b) You misrepresent ESBICM, its membership, or its credentials;

Termination of access does not relieve you of obligations accrued before termination, including responsibility for any User Content you have posted.

However, you may close your account at any time by contacting the ESBICM Office.

14. Disclaimers

The Service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. The full medical disclaimer applicable to all educational content on the Service is set out in the ESBICM Disclaimer, which forms part of these Terms and which you should read in full.

In summary: the Service provides educational content for the continuing professional education of qualified healthcare professionals. Nothing on the Service constitutes medical advice, and use of the Service does not create a doctor-patient relationship between you and ESBICM, the Founder President, or any contributor.

15. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, ESBICM, the Founder’s Council, the Executive Committee, the Founder President, and all officers, faculty, and contributors disclaim all warranties — express or implied — including warranties of accuracy, completeness, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, ESBICM and the persons named above shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages arising from your use of, or inability to use, the Service, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

16. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless ESBICM, Dr. Ankur Gupta in his capacity as Founder President, the Executive Committee, ESBICM officers, faculty, and contributors from any claim, demand, loss, or expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising from (a) any User Content you post; (b) your breach of these Terms; or (c) any violation of law arising from your use of the Service.

17. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms, or your use of the Service, shall first be raised in writing to the ESBICM Office and resolved through ESBICM’s internal Dispute Resolution process, set out in the ESBICM Organisational Structure & Standard Operating Procedures. The Founder President’s decision under that process is final and binding within the ESBICM governance structure.

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of India. Subject to the dispute-resolution provision above, the courts at Indore, Madhya Pradesh shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any matter arising from these Terms or your use of the Service.

18. Changes to These Terms

ESBICM may amend these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in our governance, services, or applicable law. Material changes will be published prominently on esbicm.org. The “Last updated” date at the top of this document indicates when the Terms were most recently revised. We recommend that you review these Terms periodically to stay informed of any updates. Continued use of the Service after changes are published constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms.

19. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with the ESBICM Disclaimer, ESBICM Privacy Policy, and ESBICM Paid Services & Refund Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and ESBICM with respect to the Service, and supersede any prior or contemporaneous understandings.

Acceptance & Contact

Use of the Service constitutes your acceptance of these Terms. If you do not agree with these Terms, please do not register or use the Service. If you wish to close your account or have questions about these Terms, please contact the ESBICM Office via esbicm.org/contact-us-esbicm.