Time to standardise levels of care amongst Out-of-Hospital Emergency Care providers in Africa

Abstract

The African Federation for Emergency Medicine’s Out-of-Hospital Emergency Care (OHEC) Committee convened 15 experts from various OHEC systems in Africa to participate in a consensus process to define levels of care within which providers in African OHEC systems should safely and effectively function. The expert panel concluded that four provider levels were relevant for African OHEC systems: (i) first aid, (ii) basic life support, (iii) intermediate life support, and (iv) advanced life support. Definitions for each provider level were also created to aid standardisation of providers across Africa and to help advance the practice of OHEC.

Keywords

• OHEC
• EMS
• BLS
• ILS
• ALS
• Africa