International Journal of Healthcare Sciences ISSN 2348-5728 (Online) Vol. 10, Issue 2, pp: (141-146), Month: October 2022 - March 2023, Available at: www.researchpublish.com
Evolution of emergency medicalservices in Saudi Arabia Abdullah Bunayyan AlDawsari1*, Nasser Bunayyan AlDawsari2 1
*Corresponding Author, Paramedic Specialist .King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh .KSA 2
Technician-Emergency Medical Service, King Slman Hospital, Riyadh .KSA DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7350992
Published Date: 23-November-2022
Abstract: Aim: the aim of this study was to supply an summary of the evolution of emergency medical services (EMS) in Saudi Arabia to explain its history, organizational service providers, governance, EMS statistics and also the academic development of the sphere with the inequality of educational approaches. The EMS in Saudi Arabia has seen variety of positive changes over the past decade, a number of that embody the event of many university and faculty programs dedicated to teaching EMS, the analysis of the profession from a post-employment care model into a pre-employment bachelor’s degree model, the generous governmental scholarship grants overseas and also the official enfranchisement of EMS as a profession. it's been close to 9 years since the primary EMS bachelor’s degree programs were developed in Saudi Arabia, a number of that were directly adopted from universities in developed countries admire Australia. This paper describes the history of EMS in Saudi Arabia with a selected specialize in distinguishing the inequality within the academic outcomes and approaches adopted by schools and universities in the Kingdom. This paper is that the 1st to supply an summary of the EMS service in Saudi Arabia, for institutions and researchers to realize an improved understanding of the history and current standing of the service from an academic and operational perspective. Keywords: Emergency medical services, paramedics, Saudi Arabia, EMS.
1. INTRODUCTION The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) was established in 1932. At more than 2,150,000 km2, it is about a quarter the size of the United States and makes up almost 80% of the Arabian Peninsula.1 Saudi Arabia is made up of 13 regions, each containing a capital city. Eight countries border Saudi Arabia clockwise from the north: Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the Emirates, Oman and Yemen. Saudi Arabia's geography is diverse, with coasts on the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea, mountains in the southwest, and plains and deserts covering more than half of the country. According to the KSA General Statistics Authority, the estimated population of Saudi Arabia in 2016 was 31,742,580. Health system in terms of the number of health professionals in relation to the population per 10,000 inhabitants, it is 26.5 doctors and dentists, 53.7 nurses, 7.2 pharmacists and 30.8 health professionals including EMS.3 The Department of Health (MOH) budget for 2014 was 59. 985 billion Saudi riyals, which is 7.01% of the total national budget. This does not include the budget for the country's other health sectors, and 43.5% of the Ministry of Health's budget was allocated to staff salaries.4 In total, there are 453 hospitals and 67,997 beds, 59 nationwide. 3% of these are operated by the Ministry of Health.4 In addition, 29.5% of Saudi Arabia's population is under the age of 15 and life expectancy is 74.2 years, four years more than the world average and six years more than the regional average . 4 The five leading causes of death are ischemic heart disease (21.7%), stroke (16%), lower respiratory tract infection (6.3%), traffic accidents (5.8%) and diabetes mellitus (4.6% ). 3
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