Purpose
In response to the current conflict in Sudan, which has devastated around 80% of the country's healthcare infrastructure, the Community Medical Response Team (CMRT) team launched the Emergency ECHO and mobile clinics program. The program aimed to ensure accessibility by offering healthcare workers ongoing medical education and logistical support during the conflict.
Methods
Virtual ECHO sessions covering emergency health topics were held using the Telegram platform. The purpose of these sessions was to give interprofessional healthcare workers the knowledge they would need for emergency and trauma care. To guarantee ongoing learning, offline resources and recorded sessions were made available. A mobile clinic was also set up to provide affected populations with direct access to healthcare services.
Results
Over the course of 550 days, 65 online sessions were delivered to 2,700 attendees. The mobile clinic provided medical consultations, treatments, and preventative care to over 25,000 individuals. Feedback from participants identified poor internet access, potential threats to one's safety, logistical challenges, and funding as the main obstacles to sustainability.
Conclusion
The double strategy of combining on-the-ground medical logistical support with online educational tool has improved access to medical education and services. The program's resilience and dedication allowed it to run multiple online sessions and provide healthcare services simultaneously in spite of major obstacles. In addition to providing emergency medical training, the Emergency ECHO Program has equipped medical professionals with the information and abilities they need to carry out their vital work even in the face of difficulty. In order to sustain and expand these efforts, emergency response policies should explore the utility of Project ECHO, funding for local healthcare workers, and improving internet connectivity.