For decades, Kenya has lacked a coordinated emergency healthcare system. When emergencies occur, fragmented services, delayed responses, and poorly resourced facilities often result in preventable deaths. Over the last ten years, the Emergency Medicine Kenya Foundation has embarked on a deliberate journey with the government to build a functional and equitable emergency healthcare system through policy reform, the establishment and strengthening of emergency departments, and the development of public ambulance and dispatch services. Drawing on more than a decade of hands-on experience, our system-level work highlights key lessons from a Low and Middle Income Country context on how emergency care healthcare systems can be designed, scaled, and sustained to significantly reduce preventable morbidity and mortality.

Dr. Benjamin W. Wachira is a distinguished Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine with a deep commitment to improving emergency care in Kenya.

As the Founder and Executive Director of the Emergency Medicine Kenya Foundation, Dr Wachira has devoted his time and resources to supporting governments and emergency healthcare providers across Kenya to save lives through capacity building, knowledge development, advocacy and research. His leadership and vision have helped create an organisation that has significantly impacted the delivery of emergency medical care in Kenya.

As a member of the National Emergency Medical Care Steering Committee in the Ministry of Health he contributes to the development of emergency healthcare policies and oversees their implementation nationwide in Kenya.

Dr. Wachira is past president of the African Federation for Emergency Medicine, where he has worked to advance emergency medical care throughout the African continent. He is a prolific writer and has published widely on emergency medical care.  His research has led to significant improvements in emergency healthcare in Kenya.

Dr. Jack Underschultz is the Executive Director of the Nafasi Opportunity Society, a Canadian NGO and registered charity which supports grassroots East African projects in the women economic empowerment, medical training, and health systems capacity building fields. Their main partner in this space is the Emergency Medicine Foundation of Kenya. 

Jack is a PGY5 Emergency Medicine resident who will be working at the University of Alberta and Royal Alexandra hospitals starting in July. Over the last 10+ years he has used his passion for global development, a background in Finance, and his medical training to lead projects in East Africa including the development of a ceramic water filter factory in Kenya to provide affordable water solutions and investigating community factors driving the persistent transmission of Ebola in the DRC, which was published in The Lancet. 

Dr. Qaasim Mian is the Vice President of the Nafasi Opportunity Society and its Medical Lead. Qaasim is a community pediatrician based in Edmonton with over a decade of experience in innovation and systems-level programming in East Africa, including Kenya, Uganda, the DRC and Tanzania. His work has helped implement sustainable oxygen solutions throughout low-resource settings while also providing training around oxygen delivery and pediatric clinical care, helping build sustainability in rural hospital settings. He also brings expertise in program management and impact assessment through the lens of his MPH and MBA.