The Regional Emergency and Critical Care Systems Strengthening Initiative (RECSI) is proud to have supported the delivery of the first Pacific regional Basic Emergency Care (BEC) training programme attended by emergency care clinicians from across the Pacific region and Timor-Leste. The course was held from the 2nd to the 4th of June in Nadi, Fiji.
The BEC course was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM). It is designed for first-line providers of emergency care in resource-constrained settings and provides a safe, structured approach to managing the acutely ill and injured.
Based on input and guidance from Pacific clinicians, RECSI partner organisations are working to support the delivery and roll-out of BEC training in a way that is contextualised and best suited to local workforce needs. This regional BEC aims to further develop a pool of qualified trainers for the Pacific region who can sustainably deliver training in their own countries and settings. This week’s training has resulted in 33 new provisional facilitators, six new registered facilitators and three new master trainers for the region.
Health workers trained through this programme will implement the training within their own healthcare facilities across the region, contributing to the WHO’s 25 x 25 Basic Emergency Care Saves Lives campaign, which was launched by the WHO Chief Nursing Officer in 2023.
The training also offered an opportunity to launch the Strategic Framework for Pacific BEC Course implementation, a global first in terms of a collaborative and regional approach to rolling out BEC training. The Interagency Pacific Regional BEC Steering Group, which identified the strategic priorities, consists of key stakeholders with a shared motivation and vision to effectively upscale the implementation of BEC training across Pacific Island countries and territories.
RECSI is supported by the Australian Government through the Partnerships for a Healthy Region Initiative. Delivery of this training was facilitated by the Pacific Community (RECSI’s implementing partner for the Pacific) in collaboration with the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine. The training also received support from St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne’s Pacific Health Fund for participant travel from around the region and Laerdal Global Health.
Quote attributable to Dr Amelia Latu Afuhaamango Tuipulotu, Chief Nursing Officer, World Health Organization:
“Congratulations to the participants of the Basic Emergency Care Provider and Training of Trainers courses, including those clinicians who have progressed from provisional facilitator to registered facilitator, and will now be able to independently lead BEC courses in their own workplaces and countries. Studies from first level hospitals across Africa and Asia have shown that following BEC implementation in-hospital mortality from emergency conditions dropped by 34 to 50%... in an era of economic uncertainties where health systems face compounding pressures from pandemics to climate and natural disasters, scaling access to BEC is no longer optional, it’s essential, and especially in small island developing states like the Pacific. BEC represents a practical, proven tool to strengthen health systems, build first contact nurses and midwives and healthcare worker capacity and save lives, today and for the future.”
Quote attributable to Dr Jennifer Jamieson, Chair, Pacific Regional BEC Course Steering Group and Chair, Global Emergency Care Committee, Australasian College for Emergency Medicine Global Emergency Care Committee:
“The regional BEC steering group was established at the end of last year and held its inaugural meeting in January, bringing together over 16 organisations working to implement the BEC course in this part of the world. The BEC course steering group has focused on five strategic priorities for BEC implementation in our region, which include stakeholder collaboration to ensure locally-led BEC courses and contextualisation of BEC content for the Pacific. Most importantly, the regional steering group is prioritising BEC participation for nurses to ensure a greater number of nurse facilitators and Master Trainers”
Quotes attributable to Dr Silina Motofaga, Team Leader, Clinical Services Program, Public Health Division, SPC:
“This is a timely and important step forward, as we see our Pacific countries receiving basic emergency care training. We must continue to support this effort so that at least 80% of our frontline HCWs are equipped with the skills and knowledge to respond effectively to health emergencies, natural disasters, and any crisis within their communities.”
Quote attributable to Dr Rob Mitchell, Program Lead for Emergency Care, Regional Emergency and Critical Care Systems Strengthening Initiative:
“This delivery of Basic Emergency Care training is a milestone for the Pacific region. It represents a substantial commitment to the World Health Organization’s Basic Emergency Care Saves Lives Campaign, and will help strengthen emergency care capacity across Pacific Island Countries. Our team is particularly excited to see so many Pacific Islands clinicians become credentialed as Basic Emergency Care trainers.”