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AshgabatRichmond

Ashgabat, Turkmenistan / Richmond, Virginia

1997-1998


Focus: Emergency Medical Services



The Partners

US Partner: The Richmond Ambulance Authority serves as the sole provider of pre-hospital care for the City of Richmond, Virginia, and is considered both a national and international leader in Emergency Medical Services. The Richmond system design is considered to be that of a high performance EMS model and contains state-of-the-art management techniques.

NIS Partner: The Regional Emergency Medical Services Training Center in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, was established at the request of the Turkmenistan Ministry of Health and Medical Industry at the Tiz Komek Medical Center in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. The Tiz Komek Medical Center serves both as a clinic and the headquarters for the ambulance system in Ashgabat.


Partnership Objectives

Emergency Medicine The overall goal was to establish a Regional Emergency Medical Services Training Center in Ashgabat, following the model of other AIHA EMS Training Centers established throughout the NIS. Specific objectives were:

  • Orient ambulance supervisory staff in ambulance system design and components.
  • Assess the current level of pre-hospital care and introduce quality improvement and oversight measures to assure a high standard of care at the scene of an emergency.
  • Establish Internet connection between the Regional EMS Training Center and the Richmond Ambulance Authority to provide timely communication and on-line technical assistance.
  • Computerize the Regional EMS Training Center's records in order to generate data and reports for quality assurance.
  • Introduce dispatcher training and operations.
  • Provide the necessary equipment to enable two ambulances to continuously provide Advanced Life Support at the scene of emergencies within the City of Ashgabat.


Key Events

  1997

  • Ashgabat's Regional EMS Training Center officially opened on March 27. Over 100 people attended the opening, where speakers included the U.S. Ambassador to Turkmenistan, AIHA representatives, Richmond Ambulance Authority representatives, the Deputy Mayor of Ashgabat, and the Deputy Minister of Health of Turkmenistan.
  • From March 27-April 6, US and NIS partners jointly presented the first eighty-hour, pre-hospital EMS course at the EMS Training Center. Approximately 50 people attended the course including physicians, feldshers, nurses and ambulance drivers.
  • A course in Modern Emergency Medical Services Management Techniques was conducted for the Ambulance Director, Assistant Director and supervisory personnel in April. The course focused on the improvement of clinical capabilities and response time performance.
  • Ambulances with equipment donated by the Richmond Ambulance Authority began responding to life-threatening medical emergencies in July, thereby allowing graduates of the training course to fully utilize skills taught through the course.

  1998

  • A Learning Resource Center (LRC) was established for both the Turkmen State Medical Institute and the Regional EMS Training Center in January, as part of AIHA's LRC Project. The LRC provides medical students and the management of the Tiz Komek Medical Center with access to the Internet and library of CD-ROMs. An Information Coordinator was identified and received training organized by AIHA.



Achievements

  Emergency Medicine

  • The Regional EMS Training Center trained over 1,900 health professionals, allied health personnel, and students from its opening in March 1997 through mid-2000. Trainees included ambulance personnel (physicians, drivers, feldshers, dispatchers, road police and fire service), clinical staff (family physicians, EMS physicians/nurses, anesthesiologists, surgeons, polyclinic nurses/doctors) and medical students and faculty.
  • The average ambulance response time in Ashgabat has been reduced by 30 minutes.
  • Newly implemented management techniques have made supervisors directly responsible for the daily operation of the ambulance brigade. Supervisors must monitor and report any delays in response times or problems with communication from the dispatch center to the hospital.
  • Pre-hospital protocols have been established for the treatment of illnesses and injuries based on the American Heart Association's Advanced Cardiac Life Support course, Basic Life Support course, and the American College of Surgeons Advanced Trauma Life Support course.
  • At the program's outset, it was anticipated that only those persons directly related to pre-hospital emergency care would be trained at the Regional EMS Training Center. However, it quickly became evident to the representatives of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry that for the patient to be successfully transferred to a higher level of care, local medical students should receive pre-hospital training at the EMS Training Center. Accordingly, medical students and medical faculty were provided the opportunity to complete the EMS training course.  This change should increase the likelihood of a smooth transition from pre-hospital to emergency department.
  • Similarly, the Deputy Minister of Health and Medical Industry recognized that many patients do not access the ambulance brigade, but rather arrive at the polyclinics through other means. In those cases the nurses, feldshers and physicians at the polyclinics were providing the initial care for these patients. The Deputy Minister of Health therefore required that all polyclinic staff attend pre-hospital training courses at the EMS Training Center. The training of family physicians staffing the polyclinics was thus initiated and this raised the level of care throughout the City of Ashgabat and in the immediate surrounding area.


Participating Institutions



Contact Information for Ashgabat, Turkmenistan / Richmond, Virginia

NIS/CEE Partner

NIS Partnership Representative
Berdyev, Murat   MD
Director
Tiz Komek Medical Center
42 Gor-Ogly St
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 744006
Phone:  (99312) 25-32-52
Fax:  (99312) 29-25-60

US Partner

US Partnership Representative
Overton, Jerry
Executive Director
Richmond Ambulance Authority
1305 Sherwood Avenue
P.O. Box 26286
Richmond, VA, United States 23260
Email:  joverton@richmond.infi.net
Phone:  (804) 254-1180
Fax:  (804) 254-1149



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Updated on July 17, 2007