The clinical discipline of Emergency Medicine is relatively young in Ghana. Emergency physicians are medical specialists who provide care for acute illnesses and injuries by assessment, stabilization, diagnosis and disposition. As a clinical discipline Emergency Medicine is not well developed in most sub-Saharan African countries, though Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments, which attend to out-of-hospital emergencies including road traffic accidents exist in many health facilities.
The Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons recognising the growing trend of accident and emergency mortality and traumatic injuries, established a specialist training programme in Emergency Medicine at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi. The first steps were taken in 2009 to establish Emergency Medicine as a specialty in Ghana.
The establishment was made possible through collaboration between the Department of Emergency Medicine at University of Michigan, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Ministry of Health, Ghana Ambulance Service, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science Technology and Technology (KNUST) and the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons (GCPS).
In 2015 Ghana had graduated 21 Emergency Medicine physicians and 59 nurses, the first of their kind in West Africa. These numbers have increased considerably over the years but considering the populace and the current Corona Virus pandemic more trained personnel are needed for nationwide coverage.
Emergency physicians in Ghana are trained to rapidly and competently respond to life threatening conditions (like: cardiac arrest, stroke, heart attack, trauma, respiratory failure, bleeding and sepsis) ;Efficiently respond unplanned emergency situations that need a rapid response and organize reactions, responses and prevention to disasters and most humanitarian crisis.
The 27th of May is the day when Emergency Medicine in Europe commenced and last year together with the international world Emergency physicians in Ghana celebrated the day through the Emergency Medicine Society of Ghana (EMSOG). EMSOG is a representation of Emergency Physicians, Emergency nurses and Emergency medical technicians and together we aim to build up a system that grants every Ghanaian citizen a professional, competent and above all a timely response to any life, organ or limb threatening acute condition anywhere in the nation. EMSOG hopes to have a united voice to structure emergency medical systems into well developed and organized systems across the country, where competences are standardized and certified and where resources for emergency medicine are sufficient for every citizen nationwide.
The aim of this Emergency Medicine day is to unite the world population and decision makers to think and talk about emergency medicine and emergency medical care. We believe it is important to build awareness about the need for well developed, well prepared and well organised emergency medical systems everywhere in the world to increase survival and reduce disability after any kind of urgent or emergent medical situation (European Society of Emergency Medicine -EUSEM).
EMSOG together with EUSEM and emergency societies around the globe come together with a mission to enlighten people that emergency medical care is better performed with competent professionals (doctors, specialists in emergency medicine, nurses trained in emergency and acute care, paramedics, technicians, support personnel) who work in organized structures and systems dedicated to emergency medical care. To show to people and governments that as a specialty and as a society we are here to stay and to make a difference for every citizen’s health and well being.