THERE
IS NO EMERGENCY MEDICINE IN UGANDA
There
is no Emergency Medicine in Uganda!!
Oh Yes, there is.
Are
you sure??? No there isn’t.
In the words of the International
Federation for Emergency Medicine: Emergency Medicine is a medical specialty—a field of
practice based on the knowledge and skills required for the prevention,
diagnosis and management of acute and urgent aspects of illness and injury
affecting patients of all age groups with a full spectrum of undifferentiated
physical and behavioral disorders. It further encompasses an understanding of
the development of pre-hospital and in-hospital emergency medical systems and
the skills necessary for this development.1
So,
is there Emergency Medicine in Uganda?
There is no Formal Emergency Medicine training (hopefully
it will start in 2015), but there are lots of Health practitioners in Uganda
providing immediate medical care, involved in trainings on various aspects of emergency
medical care, drafting guidelines, advocating for emergency medical care through
structured emergency medical systems, and a lot more.
Every day, thousands of patients receive immediate
medical care for acute illnesses and injuries in health centers and hospitals
across the country. And every day, thousands more are discharged home after
successful treatment. But also, every day, thousands die without ever receiving
emergency medical care or receiving it too late or receiving inadequate care
from untrained practitioners.
This blog is intended to share the practice of Emergency
Medical Care in Uganda as it is today, and follow its growth into a specialty designed
for Emergency Care in the Developing World as supported by the African Federation for
Emergency Medicine.
Ref:
1.
"A very warm
welcome to the website of the International Federation for Emergency
Medicine". Retrieved 10 October
2014
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