Where There is No EMS: Lay Providers in Emergency Medical Services Care - EMS as a Public Health Priority. Issue 6 (11th August 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Debenham, Sierra; Fuller, Matthew; Stewart, Matthew; Price, Raymond R.
• Is Part Of: Prehospital and disaster medicine. Volume 32:Issue 6(2017)
• Page Start: 593
• Page End: 595
• Publication Date: 2017-08-11
• Subjects: Emergency Medical Services, -- traffic accidents, -- under-developed countries; Emergency medical services -- Periodicals; Emergency medicine -- Periodicals; Disaster medicine -- Periodicals; 616.025
• DOI: 10.1017/S1049023X17006811
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1049-023X

Abstract

Abstract: By 2030, road traffic accidents are projected to be the fifth leading cause of death worldwide, with 90% of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). While high-quality, prehospital trauma care is crucial to reduce the number of trauma-related deaths, effective Emergency Medical Systems (EMS) are limited or absent in many LMICs. Although lay providers have long been recognized as the front lines of informal trauma care in countries without formal EMS, few efforts have been made to capitalize on these networks. We suggest that lay providers can become a strong foundation for nascent EMS through a four-fold approach: strengthening and expanding existing lay provider training programs; incentivizing lay providers; strengthening locally available first aid supply chains; and using technology to link lay provider networks. S Debenham, M Fuller, M Stewart, RR Price .Where there is no EMS: lay providers in Emergency Medical Services care - EMS as a public health priority .Prehosp Disaster Med .2017 ;32 (6 ):593 –595 .