Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit presents: Emergency Medical Services in Developing Countries

On May 5, 2016, Dr. Adnan Hyder, director of the Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit (JH-IIRU), opened the Emergency Medical Services in Developing Countries seminar. Dr. Hyder introduced the International Injury Research Unit and discussed its work on emergency medical systems. Dr. Junaid Razzak of Emergency Medicine at JHU and Senior Technical Advisor of IIRU then presented on emergency health systems in low resource settings.

The presentation also promoted the launch of a special issue of BMC Emergency Medicine titled, “Pakistan National Emergency Departments Surveillance Study” (Pak-NEDS). Pak_NEDS was a collaborative effort between the Department of Emergency Medicine at Aga Khan University (AKU), Karachi, Pakistan and the Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit with support from the Fogarty International Center of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Karachi, Pakistan is the third largest city in the world with a huge demand for improving their emergency health systems.

Dr. Razzak presented on the research challenges and discussed the crisis of leadership within the system including the population’s lack of hope in their system. In addition, he addressed how investment in leadership development is key to the success of an EMS system. Dr. Razzak raised awareness about the lack of emergency medical care and leadership in low- and middle-income countries and the cost effectiveness of focusing interventions in emergency care.

To view the seminar, please click here.