Pakistan's Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system & out-of-hospital-cardiac-arrest (OHCA): A narrative review of an EMS system of a low middle income country in context of OHCA.

Publication Type	Review
Authors	Baig M, Khan N, Naseer R, Akhter S, Shaikh A, Razzak J
Journal	Resusc Plus
Volume	18
Pagination	100627
Date Published	04/04/2024
ISSN	2666-5204
Abstract	Pakistan's Emergency Medical Services (EMS) are a critical component of its healthcare system, providing pre-hospital emergency care across a nation with over 220 million people. This article explores the evolutionary journey of Pakistan's EMS, highlighting both the challenges it faces and the strides it has made, with a specific emphasis on patients experiencing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). To extract relevant information, we searched MEDLINE & Embase data bases using MeSH terms "Emergency Medical Services" OR "EMS" AND "Out-of-Hospital-Cardiac-Arrest" OR "OHCA" AND "Pakistan". In addition, we also retrieved information from the EMS leadership in Pakistan through e-mails. We delve into the significance of key performance indicators for OHCA, advocate for the establishment of OHCA registries to improve patient outcomes, address regional disparities in pre-hospital care, and acknowledge the gradual progress of the EMS system.
DOI	10.1016/j.resplu.2024.100627
PubMed ID	38590447
PubMed Central ID	PMC11000191