Jellybean 105 Emergency Medicine in Zambia with @mwichiluba
Mwiche Chiluba\n\nTITLE\nEmergency Medicine in Zambia\n\nAt the moment there is only one public emergency department in Zambia that actually has a trained emergency physician. It only has one. That\u2019s the boss. It\u2019s Mwiche Chiluba. (@mwichiluba) A few years back she literally quit her old job, packed her bags and set off to South Africa to learn how they are practicing emergency medicine. Four years later she completed her training and packed her bags again.\n\nThis is not a one woman show but it is pretty close. Across the world, in every continent, there are women and men like Dr Chiluba that are in the vanguard at the front line of the expansion of critical care. This is not an African thing, this is not a lower middle income countries thing, this is everywhere. Emergency medicine is still relatively new. We are still developing EM. We have more in common than many appreciate. We can help each other and learn from each other.\n\nZambia, landlocked nation in southern part of the continent of Africa with a population of approx 17 million people. Health care parameters are improving very fast. Huge recent improvements in maternal mortality and childhood mortality are a great indication of how fast things are developing. Emergency is a new discipline. \n\nOne of the nicest things about how Mwiche sees it all is that, with not one single emergency physician to help her, if you ask Mwiche what she is doing to train more doctors, she is immediately careful to emphasise that you cannot deliver a good emergency medical system with emergency physicians alone. She has solid nursing and primary health support but she wants triage systems, paramedics, specialist support. Triage is a developing art in Zambia, in Mwiche\u2019s hospital even with her \n\nEvery hospital EP\n\nA great insight into one nations emergency medicine and the huge role that nursing professionals play in healthcare delivery. Nurses carry the weight. Lest we forget. \n\nAt the SMACC event in Sydney in 2019 the organising committee invited emergency medicine ambassadors from around the world. The Jellybean Podcast was lucky to be able to catch up with a number of these amazing people. Thank you to Mwiche for coming on the podcast and thank you to the SMACC people for having the foresight to see that we need to hear voices like Mwiches. We have a lot to learn.\n\nLinks are good;\n\nTwitter \nDr Chiluba @mwichiluba\nSMACCreach people @aalenyo @mgabin5 @Mulinda_EMalawi @ulovegeorge\nSocieties etc @RECA_RWANDA @EMAT_info \nBADEM people @bad_EM @craigwylie @Kat__Evans\nAfrican Journal of Emergency Medicine @AfJEM\nDeveloping EM @developingEM