Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36921009›Full record

ArticlePloS one2023

Implementation and outcomes of a comprehensive emergency care curriculum at a low-resource referral hospital in Liberia: A novel approach to application of the WHO Basic Emergency Care toolkit.

Lane Epps, Anu Ramachandran, Sojung Yi, Alexander Mayah, Taylor Burkholder, Michael Jaung, Ahson Haider, Paul Wesseh, John Shakpeh, Corey Bills and 1 more

Open access · goldFull text read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
2.1field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.

Lane EppsDepartment of Emergency Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0001-9532-8751
Anu RamachandranDepartment of Emergency Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States of America.
Sojung YiDepartment of Emergency Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States of America.
Alexander MayahDepartment of Emergency Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States of America.
Taylor BurkholderDepartment of Emergency Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0003-4648-180X
Michael JaungDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States of America.
Ahson HaiderSan Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, United States of America.
Paul WessehRedemption Hospital, Monrovia, Liberia.ORCID 0000-0002-0257-824X
John ShakpehRedemption Hospital, Monrovia, Liberia.
Corey BillsDepartment of Emergency Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0002-3456-6008
Kayla EnriquezDepartment of Emergency Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States of America.
University of California, San Francisco · USUniversity of Liberia · LRBaylor College of Medicine · USSan Francisco State University · USUniversity of Colorado Denver · USUniversity of Southern California · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEmergency care is vital in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) but many frontline healthcare workers in low-resource settings have no formal training in emergency care. To address this gap, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed Basic Emergency Care (BEC): Approach to the acutely ill and injured, a multi-day, open-source course for healthcare workers in low-resource settings. Building on the BEC foundation, this study uses an implementation science (IS) lens to develop, implement, and evaluate a comprehensive emergency care curriculum in a single emergency facility in Liberia.

methodsA six-month emergency care curriculum consisting of BEC content, standardized WHO clinical documentation forms, African Federation of Emergency Medicine (AFEM) didactics, and clinical mentorship by visiting emergency medicine (EM) faculty was designed and implemented using IS frameworks at Redemption Hospital, a low-resource public referral hospital in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. Healthcare worker performance on validated knowledge-based exams during pre- and post-intervention testing, post-course surveys, and patient outcomes were used to evaluate the program.

resultsNine visiting EM physicians provided 1400 hours of clinical mentorship and 560 hours of didactic training to fifty-six Redemption Hospital staff over six-months. Median test scores improved 20.0% (p<0.001) among the forty-three healthcare workers who took both the pre- and post-intervention tests. Participants reported increased confidence in caring for medical and trauma patients and comfort performing emergency care tasks on post-course surveys. Emergency unit (EU)/Isolation unit (IU) mortality decreased during the six-month implementation period, albeit non-significantly. Course satisfaction was high across multiple domains. DISCUSSION: This study builds on prior research supporting WHO efforts to improve emergency care globally. BEC implementation over a six-month timeframe using IS principles is an effective alternative strategy for facilities in resource-constrained environments wishing to strengthen emergency care delivery.

Indexed as

Emergency Medical ServicesCurriculumHospitals, PublicHumansLiberiaReferral and ConsultationWorld Health Organization

Identifiers

PMID36921009
PMCPMC10016633
OpenAlexW4324305930

What OpenQuestion holds

Textfull text, public
LicenceCC BY
measurements read30
identifiers read6
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.