Results from a World Health Organization pilot of the Basic Emergency Care Course in Sub Saharan Africa

BACKGROUND: Frontline providers around the world deliver emergency care daily, often without prior dedicated training. In response to multiple country requests for open-access, basic emergency care training materials, the World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM), undertook development of a course for health care providers—Basic Emergency Care: Approach to the acutely ill and injured (BEC). As part of course development, pilots were performed in Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia to evaluate course feasibility and appropriateness. Here we describe participant and facilitator feedback and pre- and post-course exam performance. METHODS: A mixed methods research design incorporated pre- and post-course surveys as well as participant examination results to assess the feasibility and utility of the course, and knowledge transfer. Quantitative data were analyzed using Stata, and simple descriptive statistics were used to describe participant demographics. Survey data were coded and grouped by themes and analyzed using ATLAS.ti. RESULTS: Post-course test scores showed significant improvement (p-value < 0.05) as compared to pre-course. Pre- and post-course questionnaires demonstrated significantly increased confidence in managing emergency conditions. Participant-reported course strengths included course appropriateness, structure, language level and delivery methods. Suggested changes included expanding the 4-day duration of the course. CONCLUSION: This pilot demonstrates that a low-fidelity, open-access course taught by local instructors can be successful in knowledge transfer. The BEC course was well-received and deemed context-relevant by pilot facilitators and participants in three East African countries. Further studies are needed to evaluate this course’s impact on clinical practice and patient outcomes.