Director of Tertiary Health and Clinical Support Services, Johannes Gaeseb says Namibia is currently experiencing an increase in demand for pre-hospital care as a result of increased trauma incidents from motor vehicle crashes, violence and a variety of other medical conditions.
Gaeseb stated this on Monday during the commemoration of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Day and the official launch of the EMS campaign in the capital.
He stated that a well-established pre-hospital care system could prevent the majority of deaths caused by traumatic events, heart attacks and obstetric and gynaecological emergencies.
According to him, the goal of EMS is to provide timely care to victims of sudden and life-threatening injuries or medical emergencies, in order to prevent unnecessary mortality and long-term morbidity, and thus improve prognosis.
“EMS is an essential component of any healthcare delivery system and is defined as a comprehensive system that provides personnel, facilities and equipment for the effective, coordinated and timely delivery of health and safety services to victims of acute illness or injury.”
“It should come as no surprise then, that EMS is a critical component of Universal Health Coverage (UHC),” he said.
Gaeseb added that EMS combines paramedical expertise with the ability to respond to all medical and trauma emergencies at any distance in the shortest amount of time.
It also includes patient and incident management, as well as documentation and inter-hospital transfers.
He stated that much progress has been made in the provision of Emergency Medical Services across the country in recent years, but that much more work remains to be done to ensure functional, coordinated, widely accessible and high-quality pre-hospital care throughout the country.
“The progress made toward achieving these goals should be recognised and celebrated,” he said.
The EMS awareness campaign will run until the main event and award ceremony in July 2022, under the theme ‘Health is Wealth’.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
