Namibia currently faces an increasing demand for pre-hospital care caused by increased incidents of trauma resulting from motor vehicle crashes, violence and a variety of other medical conditions.

The Director of Tertiary Health Care and Clinical Support Services in the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Johannes Gaeseb said this at the launch of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) awareness campaign on Monday held to observance of National Emergency Medical Services Day on Wednesday.

‘It is believed that most of the deaths experienced through traumatic events, heart attacks, obstetric and gynaecological emergencies could be prevented through a well-established pre-hospital care system,’he said.

Gaeseb added that EMS focuses on providing timely care to victims of sudden and life-threatening injuries or medical emergencies in order to prevent needless mortality and long-term morbidity thereby improving prognosis.

He said although a lot has been done over the years, much development still has to take place to ensure that functional, coordinated and accessible pre-hospital care is available across the country.

The past two years, the director added, have been both extremely challenging and mentally draining on staff members in the medical fraternity and even more so for pre-hospital care providers.

‘The national EMS day celebration acknowledges the strides and milestones achieved through the provision of services not only in the pre-hospital setting but by all first responders and frontline health care providers under the EMS umbrella,’ he noted.

Meanwhile, an EMS award ceremony will also be held during the EMS celebrations on Wednesday.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency