Emergency Medical Care in East Africa

Emergency Medical Services are an essential part of a countries HEALTH system.  High-quality pre-hospital emergency care services can significantly reduce morbidity and mortality. The care of emergency patients and patient transport (so-called pre-hospital services), particularly in rural areas, is still underdeveloped in the Region. In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic has further disclosed the needs for improvement of Emergency Medical Services, as part of emergency and disaster preparedness. The Rwandan government, for example, has recognized the need for improvement in the pre-hospital service sector and corresponding goals are set in the health sector strategy. Some of the priorities for the pre‐ hospital care services are to increase the numbers of skilled EMS staff and to increase the number of ambulances, to define a national curriculum for prehospital service training and to strengthen capacity‐building. 

Value added

With the recognition of the Emergency Care Assistant profession and the first licensing exams in 2024, Rwanda has its first health professionals which did not need to study at university. Opening up the sector for professional trained non-university staff helps to overcome the staff shortage in the sector and strengthens the pre-hospital care in the country. The ECA’s are the first ones who received specialised training, recognising the different setting in pre-hospital care compared to in-hospital care. Therefore, this profession will contribute to reduce the mortality and morbidity rates.

Way ahead

The Rwanda Red Cross, with further support of the Austrian Red Cross, is currently developing a business plan to ensure the organisational and financial sustainability of the Emergency Medical Services.