Emergency Readiness in Primary Health Care. A Case-Study of Emergency Preparedness of Health Care Centers with Family Medicine Residents in Guyana

      Аннотация: Emergency preparedness of primary healthcare facilities and its workers are an integral part in providing quality health care services. Medical emergencies can occur anywhere and at any time, including medical and dental offices. In fact, these types of emergencies might not be as uncommon as many people think. This study was based on a case-study research. The sample population consisted of 39 Family Residents and other Doctors whose experience with emergency preparedness at the facilities were analysed. Questionnaires were utilized as the primary research instrument. Emergency cases were very frequent 69,4 % of the respondents indicated that emergency cases were frequent with 1-3 cases per week. The most common emergencies were asthmatic attacks, chest pain and severe trauma and lacerations. Most of the respondents have 3-5 years of medical experience while 72% been fully registered. The study shows 88.9% of the respondents indicating that there are no existing emergency protocols at the centres and 5.6% conducted drills. There exist a need to better integrate and mainstream optimally emergency medical response at Health centres.

Ключевые слова: emergency, Preparedness, Readiness, Primary, Healthcare, Guyana, Health Sector, Health Centres, Family Medicine