It has been more than a decade since emergency medicine became recognized as a specialty in the Kingdom of Bahrain. In the last fifteen years emergency medicine has widely established itself and developed rapidly in the Kingdom. The three main emergency departments are: Salmanyia Medical Complex (SMC), Royal Medical Services of Bahrain Defence Force (RMS-BDF) and King Hamad University Hospital (KHUH) are now fully equipped and operated by a majority of board certified emergency physicians.Standardized protocols, and the Central National Ambulance will be established in the near future, and the ambulances will offer both basic and advanced life support by trained nurses and paramedics.Emergency Medicine residency training programs were established in the main three hospitals in Bahrain for the Arab Board Certification initially, while currently only two hospitals, BDF hospital and KHUH are recognized as training centers for the Saudi Board Residency Program.This article will focus on many aspects related to emergency medicine in the Kingdom of Bahrain including: history of health care systems in Bahrain, hospitals and primary care, disaster management, Emergency medical services (EMS), hospital-based emergency care, training in emergency medicine and universities. We aim to present Bahrain’s past and existing emergency medicine experience, our perspective about the existing challenges faced by the specialty, and the future plans for the advancement of emergency medicine in the Kingdom.
Emergency medical services (EMS) is crucial to any healthcare system, especially in urban countries. The Kingdom of Bahrain has always strived to develop healthcare services throughout the Kingdom including EMS. Like any other country, the Kingdom has gone through several stages in the provision of EMS. This article will focus on the development of EMS in the Kingdom and its evolution from a scattered hospital-based system to a unified system, which ensures ease of access for the population and speed of delivery to the healthcare facilities. The major focus will be the most recent national project which is the National Ambulance.
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