Emergency Medical Service System in the Developing Nations: Kenyan Case

Emergency medical services (EMS) is a critical component of the nation’s emergency and trauma care system. Hundreds of thousands of EMS personnel provide more than 1million medical transports each year. These personnel deal with an extraordinary range of conditions and severity on a daily basis—from mild fevers to massive head traumas. The work they do is challenging, stressful, at times dangerous, and often highly rewarding. EMS encompasses the initial stages of the emergency care continuum. It includes emergency calls, dispatch of emergency personnel to the scene of an illness or trauma; and triage, treatment, and transport of patients by ambulance and air medical service. The speed and quality of emergency medical services are critical factors in a patient’s ultimate outcome. For patients who cannot breathe, are in hemorrhagic shock, or are in cardiac arrest, the decisions made and actions taken by EMS personnel may determine the outcome as much as the subsequent hospital-based care—and may mean the difference between life and death.