In an emergency – Do you run away or run towards?

Abstract

Every day around the world, millions of people experience accidents or acute illnesses that require emergency care, significantly contributing to out-of-pocket healthcare expenses, thus impacting the global burden of disease and the complexity of the healthcare environment. In low-resource environments, emergency care is often limited by the overwhelmed facilities and staff who may not have adequate skills. Capacitating nurses with the knowledge and skills necessary to provide effective emergency care has the potential to reduce mortality rates and improve patient outcomes. This paper aims to promote the World Health Organization (WHO), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM)-Basic Emergency Care (BEC) training programme as a viable solution to enhance emergency preparedness and response capabilities among nurses, ensuring they are adequately trained to handle emergencies efficiently and appropriately. It seeks to foster a culture of preparedness among nurses by emphasising the need to empower them with essential skills which will assist them in approaching emergencies confidently and competently, rather than avoiding or hesitating when faced with emergency care patients.