A Global Review of Provisions on Emergency Care in National Constitutions.

National constitutions are important tools for the realization of the right to health, and constitutional law linking health and human rights has been associated with improved access to health resources. Meanwhile, emergency care is a lifesaving service delivery platform with the potential to address much of the death and disability in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Yet even where services exist, access to emergency care may be systematically limited for vulnerable populations, except where laws explicitly protect the right to emergency care. We therefore sought to catalog and describe constitutional provisions related to emergency care. Through a comprehensive review of 195 national constitutions, we searched provisions for terms related to emergency care and performed qualitative framework analysis on these provisions. Eleven provisions met inclusion criteria, representing ten LMICs with constitutions written since 1996. While seven of the eleven provisions guarantee access to emergency care to all people, three narrow this guarantee to citizens only. Only three constitutions address the affordability of emergency care. While these constitutional provisions represent an important step toward the legal guarantee of access to emergency care for all people, further attention must be paid to the impact of such laws and regulation on the accessibility of emergency care and its related reduction of death and disability globally.

Emergency department management of traumatic brain injuries: A resource tiered review.

INTRODUCTION: Traumatic brain injury is a leading cause of death and disability globally with an estimated African incidence of approximately 8 million cases annually. A person suffering from a TBI is often aged 20-30, contributing to sustained disability and large negative economic impacts of TBI. Effective emergency care has the potential to decrease morbidity from this multisystem trauma. OBJECTIVES: Identify and summarize key recommendations for emergency care of patients with traumatic brain injuries using a resource tiered framework. METHODS: A literature review was conducted on clinical care of brain-injured patients in resource-limited settings, with a focus on the first 48 h of injury. Using the AfJEM resource tiered review and PRISMA guidelines, articles were identified and used to describe best practice care and management of the brain-injured patient in resource-limited settings. KEY RECOMMENDATIONS: Optimal management of the brain-injured patient begins with early and appropriate triage. A complete history and physical can identify high-risk patients who present with mild or moderate TBI. Clinical decision rules can aid in the identification of low-risk patients who require no neuroimaging or only a brief period of observation. The management of the severely brain-injured patient requires a systematic approach focused on the avoidance of secondary injury, including hypotension, hypoxia, and hypoglycaemia. Most interventions to prevent secondary injury can be implemented at all facility levels. Urgent neuroimaging is recommended for patients with severe TBI followed by consultation with a neurosurgeon and transfer to an intensive care unit. The high incidence and poor outcomes of traumatic brain injury in Africa make this subject an important focus for future research and intervention to further guide optimal clinical care.

Developing emergency care systems: a human rights-based approach.

The delivery of emergency care is an effective strategy to reduce the global burden of disease. Emergency care cross cuts traditional disease-focused disciplines to manage a wide range of the acute illnesses and injuries that contribute substantially to death and disability, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. While the universal health coverage (UHC) movement is gaining support, and human rights and health systems are integral to UCH, few concrete discussions on the human right to emergency care have been taken place to date. Furthermore, no rights-based approach to developing emergency care systems has been proposed. In this article, we explore key components of the right to health (that is, availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of health facilities, goods and services) as they relate to emergency care systems. We propose the use of a rights-based framework for the fulfilment of core obligations of the right to health and the progressive realization of emergency care in all countries.

La prestation de soins d'urgence constitue une stratégie efficace pour réduire la charge mondiale de morbidité. Les soins d'urgence recoupent les disciplines traditionnelles centrées sur les maladies pour prendre en charge de nombreuses blessures et affections aiguës qui contribuent sensiblement aux décès et aux handicaps, en particulier dans les pays à revenu faible et intermédiaire. Alors que le mouvement pour la couverture sanitaire universelle prend de l'ampleur et que les droits de l'homme et les systèmes de santé en font partie intégrante, peu de discussions concrètes sur le droit à des soins d'urgence ont eu lieu à ce jour. En outre, aucune démarche fondée sur les droits et visant à développer des systèmes de soins d'urgence n'a été proposée. Dans cet article, nous nous intéressons aux composantes clés du droit à la santé (à savoir la disponibilité, l'accessibilité, l'acceptabilité et la qualité des établissements, des produits et des services de soins) pour ce qui est des systèmes de soins d'urgence. Nous proposons d'utiliser un cadre fondé sur les droits pour l'exécution des obligations essentielles du droit à la santé et la mise en place progressive de soins d'urgence dans tous les pays.

La prestación de atención de emergencia es una estrategia eficaz para reducir la carga mundial de morbilidad. La atención de emergencia trasciende las disciplinas tradicionales centradas en las enfermedades para tratar una amplia gama de enfermedades y lesiones agudas que contribuyen sustancialmente a la muerte y la discapacidad, en particular en los países de ingresos bajos y medianos. Si bien el movimiento de la cobertura sanitaria universal (CSU) está ganando apoyo, y los derechos humanos y los sistemas de salud son parte integral de la CSU, hasta la fecha se han llevado a cabo pocas discusiones concretas sobre el derecho humano a la atención de emergencia. Además, no se ha propuesto un enfoque basado en los derechos para desarrollar sistemas de atención de emergencia. En este artículo exploramos los componentes clave del derecho a la salud (es decir, disponibilidad, accesibilidad, aceptabilidad y calidad de las instalaciones, bienes y servicios sanitarios) en relación con los sistemas de atención de emergencia. Proponemos el uso de un marco basado en los derechos para el cumplimiento de las obligaciones básicas del derecho a la salud y la realización progresiva de la atención de emergencia en todos los países.

Advancing research on the economic value of emergency care.

Emergency care and the emergency care system encompass an array of time-sensitive interventions to address acute illness and injury. Research has begun to clarify the enormous economic burden of acute disease, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries, but little is known about the cost-effectiveness of emergency care interventions and the performance of health financing mechanisms to protect populations against catastrophic health expenditures. We summarise existing knowledge on the economic value of emergency care in low resource settings, including interventions indicated to be highly cost-effective, linkages between emergency care financing and universal health coverage, and priority areas for future research.