Ten years of the community-based emergency first aid responder (EFAR) system in the Western Cape of South Africa: What has happened, what has changed, and what has been learned()

The emergency first aid responder (EFAR) system was designed as a low-cost and adaptable community-based prehospital emergency care system, and was first published after conducting a study in the township of Manenberg, South Africa, in 2010. EFARs are laypersons who are trained to respond to emergencies in their communities, and can provide support to the emergency medical services (EMS) by providing early clinical care, reporting back about the scene, and assisting with local scene management and logistics. Over the past ten years in South Africa, the Western Cape Government Health (WCGH) EMS and the Western Cape Government (WCG) College of Emergency Care have implemented the EFAR system in multiple communities and have trained over 10,000 community members across the Western Cape. This report is a ten-year update on what has happened since the EFAR system started, and to candidly show how the system has evolved, what has been learned, and what challenges remain so that others could look ahead and plan accordingly as they develop similar community-based first aid responder systems in resource-constrained areas. Core pillars to the EFAR system's success have included community involvement and adaptation, collaboration with the WCGH EMS and WCG College of Emergency Care, opportunities for community and EMS development, and emphasis on the sustainability of local EFAR systems. Multiple challenges also remain that others may likely face.