An AGNF delegation attended the ERC (European Resuscitation Council) conference in Athens from 30.10.-03.11.2024. Among other things, we supported our partners from Uganda on their way to establishing a national council for resuscitation recognized and supported by the ERC.
The successful establishment of the ERC courses on emergency medical care for adults, children and newborns as part of the GIZ clinic partnership support was essential for the introduction of standardized emergency care in Uganda.
Our partner in Uganda, the AAPU training center, is now able to offer the internationally recognized and certified course formats Advanced Life Support (ALS), European Pediatric Advanced Life Support (EPALS) and Newborn Life Support (NLS) as well as other low-threshold course programmes in Uganda and to train medical staff professionally and to a very high standard.
A Ugandan National Resuscitation Council needs to be established in order to harmonize course standards in the country. This enables Uganda’s permanent and institutional connection to the ERC as the central professional association for resuscitation and the care of critically ill patients, together with its scientific and educational international network.
Officially, the ERC awards five seats to non-European countries, which are part of the ERC and therefore have the right to have a say in the development of international standards. Last but not least, they are also supported in research topics.
Four of the five seats have already been allocated, Uganda has submitted a request for the fifth seat.
For this reason, the Ugandan presence at the ERC conference in Athens was indispensable.
The delegation from Uganda represented both the Ugandan Ministry of Health and our long-standing project partner, the Association of Ambulance Professionals Uganda (AAPU). This meant that central functions such as first chairman, assistant to the board, head of the training department, secretary general and international relations of the newly founded Ugandan Council for Revitalization were present.
A few weeks before the conference, the Ugandan Resuscitation Council submitted its concept note and thus the request for partnership with the ERC. This application has not only been very well received by all medical associations in the country, but above all this project is supported by the Ugandan Ministry of Health.
During the conference, a first personal and very positive exchange took place with the ERC Steering Committee. The ERC gives Uganda the green light for the application and expresses great interest in a partnership and future cooperation. We expect to be able to congratulate our Ugandan colleagues on this great success within the next few months!
Organized by the AGNF, the “low-income” countries present at the conference were also invited to a “Table Discussion”. Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Egypt were present and were able to exchange experiences and establish further contacts.
In addition to the valuable exchange at the conference, the many exciting discussions and interesting presentations, we were able to use the opportunity to structure the tasks of the Ugandan Resuscitation Council and plan further projects.