TY - JOUR T1 - Establishing a successful pre-hospital emergency service in a developing country: experience from Rescue 1122 service in Pakistan JF - Emergency Medicine Journal JO - Emerg Med J SP - 513 LP - 515 DO - 10.1136/emj.2010.096271 VL - 28 IS - 6 AU - Hunniya Waseem AU - Rizwan Naseer AU - Junaid Abdul Razzak Y1 - 2011/06/01 UR - http://emj.bmj.com/content/28/6/513.abstract N2 - As in many other developing countries, emergency medical services, especially pre-hospital emergency care, has long been neglected in Pakistan. Consequently, patients are brought to the emergency departments by relatives or bystanders in private cars, taxis or any other readily available mode of transportation. Ambulances, where they exist, have barely a stretcher and arrangements for oxygen supply. Modern emergency services are considered too costly for many countries. A model of pre-hospital emergency services, called Rescue 1122 and established in Punjab province of Pakistan, is presented. The system is supported by government funding and provides a quality service. The article describes the process of establishment of the service, the organisational structure, the scope of services and the role it is currently playing in the healthcare of the region it serves. ER -