Application of the World Health Organization's Basic Emergency Care course in Zambia.
Basic Emergency Care
Education
Emergency care
Emergency care systems
Zambia
Journal
African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence
ISSN: 2211-4203
Titre abrégé: Afr J Emerg Med
Pays: Netherlands
ID NLM: 101572277
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Mar 2021
Mar 2021
Historique:
received:
23
05
2020
revised:
30
07
2020
accepted:
11
09
2020
entrez:
8
3
2021
pubmed:
9
3
2021
medline:
9
3
2021
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
In 2013, the Zambian Ministry of Health identified action priorities for strengthening their emergency care system; one of these priorities was emergency care training for healthcare providers. To rapidly train the existing cadre of frontline providers, trainings were implemented in multiple provinces using the World Health Organization's Basic Emergency Care (BEC) course. The BEC course is open-access and emphasizes a practical syndrome-based approach to critical emergency conditions. This paper describes the first reported larger scale educational intervention of the BEC course in 7 provinces of Zambia. Course delivery occurred at seven Zambian hospitals selected by the Ministry of Health over a 1 year period. Participant emergency care knowledge was assessed pre- and post-course with a 25-question multiple choice exam. Participant confidence levels related to emergency care provision and emergency care skills were assessed pre- and post-course using a Likert scale survey. Overall, 210 participants were trained at 7 sites. Participants demonstrated significant improvements in their multiple-choice exam scores; the overall pre-course mean was 61.47, and the post-course mean was 79.87 (p < 0.0001). Self-reported confidence in the care of ill and injured adults and children increased after taking the course, and participants generally agreed that the BEC course was highly valuable and applicable to local needs. Implementation of the WHO's BEC course at seven hospitals throughout Zambia led to improvement in the participants' emergency care knowledge and confidence levels at all sites. The BEC course has the potential to be implemented in a nationwide initiative but would require allocation of significant human and physical resources. Additional work evaluating patient outcomes and long-term participant educational outcomes is needed.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
In 2013, the Zambian Ministry of Health identified action priorities for strengthening their emergency care system; one of these priorities was emergency care training for healthcare providers. To rapidly train the existing cadre of frontline providers, trainings were implemented in multiple provinces using the World Health Organization's Basic Emergency Care (BEC) course. The BEC course is open-access and emphasizes a practical syndrome-based approach to critical emergency conditions. This paper describes the first reported larger scale educational intervention of the BEC course in 7 provinces of Zambia.
METHODS
METHODS
Course delivery occurred at seven Zambian hospitals selected by the Ministry of Health over a 1 year period. Participant emergency care knowledge was assessed pre- and post-course with a 25-question multiple choice exam. Participant confidence levels related to emergency care provision and emergency care skills were assessed pre- and post-course using a Likert scale survey.
RESULTS
RESULTS
Overall, 210 participants were trained at 7 sites. Participants demonstrated significant improvements in their multiple-choice exam scores; the overall pre-course mean was 61.47, and the post-course mean was 79.87 (p < 0.0001). Self-reported confidence in the care of ill and injured adults and children increased after taking the course, and participants generally agreed that the BEC course was highly valuable and applicable to local needs.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSIONS
Implementation of the WHO's BEC course at seven hospitals throughout Zambia led to improvement in the participants' emergency care knowledge and confidence levels at all sites. The BEC course has the potential to be implemented in a nationwide initiative but would require allocation of significant human and physical resources. Additional work evaluating patient outcomes and long-term participant educational outcomes is needed.
Identifiants
pubmed: 33680735
doi: 10.1016/j.afjem.2020.09.011
pii: S2211-419X(20)30108-7
pmc: PMC7910165
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Pagination
140-143Informations de copyright
© 2020 African Federation for Emergency Medicine. Publishing services provided by Elsevier.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.
Références
Emerg Med J. 2016 Nov;33(11):794-800
pubmed: 27334758
Bull World Health Organ. 2019 May 1;97(5):314-315
pubmed: 31551626
PLoS One. 2019 Nov 13;14(11):e0224257
pubmed: 31721766