Uganda Reaches 100th Emergency Medical Services ECHO Session, Training Over 14,500 Health Workers
Uganda has marked a major milestone in emergency care training, holding the 100th virtual Emergency Medical Services (EMS) ECHO session, with more than 14,500 health professionals now trained.
The initiative, launched in 2021 by the Ministry of Health in partnership with Seed Global Health, is transforming how frontline health workers are trained to respond to life-threatening emergencies in Uganda and beyond.
Together with the growing number of emergency medicine doctors (25), the sessions have had notable impact with emergency-related mortality declined by 30% in Seed-supported emergency wards.
In addition, a recent joint study with the Ministry of Health found that deaths due to emergencies in Uganda have reduced by 50% compared to the figures recorded two decades ago.
Using the Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) model, these expert-led virtual sessions provide doctors, nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, and emergency medical technicians with critical skills and confidence to save lives.
Key achievements of EMS ECHO since 2021 include:
- Nationwide coverage with participants from all 146 districts of Uganda – with more than 14,500 health workers trained.
- Health workers in nearly 70 additional countries reached with most joining from East Africa.
- Nearly 30% improvement in knowledge shown in pre- and post-session assessments.
Dr. John Baptist Waniaye, commissioner of EMS at the Ministry of Health, noted: “EMS ECHO is proof that Uganda can lead in building solutions that empower health workers and save lives, not only here at home, but globally.”
“EMS ECHO sessions have helped me interface with experts and super specialists who otherwise would be difficult to access at the individual level. This has improved my approach to certain complex medical conditions,” Alice Kabasoga, nurse, Mbale Regional Referral Hospital
“EMS ECHO has offered a platform for me and team members to have continuous medical education on common conditions. As a team leader, I can effectively mobilise and ensure we all attend, and this has improved patient care,” Dr. Pius Mukasa Mulumba, medical officer, Police Health Services, Soroti.
Dr. Jimmy Atyera, Seed program associate, says: “The EMS ECHO initiative has demonstrated that frontline healthcare providers can be effectively mentored by senior cadres without being removed from their workstations, avoiding disruptions to service delivery. This model enables real-time connections between upcountry healthcare providers and specialist healthcare workers, strengthening support for frontline health workers in remote areas.
Ahead of this milestone, the Ministry of Health and Seed Global Health published a peer-reviewed article in The European Society of Medicine’s Medical Research Archives titled “Bridging Uganda’s Emergency Care Skills Gap: Leveraging Virtual Telementorship for Frontline Providers.” The paper demonstrates that EMS ECHO is a feasible and scalable model for improving emergency care knowledge in more low-resource settings and countries.
