Road traffic safety for older adults: an emerging public health challenge in Thailand.

Background: Road safety for older adults should receive more attention in low-income and middle-income countries with rapidly ageing populations.

Methods: Using injury surveillance data from Khon Kaen Regional Hospital in northeastern Thailand, we calculated the proportion of older adults in the total number of patients who were fatally and non-fatally injured in road traffic crashes in each year from 2001 to 2020 and the proportion of road user type in the fatal and non-fatal patients by age groups for the entire study period to examine the extent to which older adults were involved in the crashes and with what mode of transportation.

Results: During the 20-year period, there were 5046 fatal and 180 353 non-fatal patients of whom 509 (10%) and 6087 (3%) were aged 65 years or older, respectively.

Evaluation of the PRESEP Score and the Miami Sepsis Score for Prehospital Sepsis Screening.

Introduction: Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated response to an infection that requires early intervention. Prehospital sepsis screening tools have not yet been widely evaluated for their performance in clinical practice.

Objective: To evaluate the ability of the Prehospital Early Sepsis Detection (PRESEP) score and the Miami Sepsis Score to predict sepsis in prehospital settings.

Development of an emergency medical services system in Thailand: Roles of the universal health coverage and the national lead agency.

This paper describes how the Thai health sector developed nationwide emergency medical services (EMS), despite limited resources and we try to extract lessons applicable to other resource-constrained settings. The government of Thailand has strengthened EMS by integrating it into the general healthcare system and formulating a national development plan and lead agency for EMS. The government emphasized the deployment of low-cost basic-level EMS units stationed near the communities, named as 'first-responder units'.

Community surveillance of COVID-19 by village health volunteers, Thailand.

Problem: To control the increasing spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the government of Thailand enforced the closure of public and business areas in Bangkok on 22 March 2020. As a result, large numbers of unemployed workers returned to their hometowns during April 2020, increasing the risk of spreading the virus across the entire country.

Approach: In anticipation of the large-scale movement of unemployed workers, the Thai government trained existing village health volunteers to recognize the symptoms of COVID-19 and educate members of their communities.

Community-Based First Responder Network in Rural Thailand: A Case Study of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest.

Recently, the Thai government introduced a novel program to train health volunteers as first responders to deal with increasing acute illness and injuries. This case study demonstrates the potential of this program to improve public access to emergency care through the integration of emergency care with a community-based health care system, specifically in a rural setting. A 39-year-old man collapsed with cardiac arrest in his village.

Development of an emergency medical system model for resource-constrained settings.

Objectives: An emergency care system is an important aspect for healthcare organisations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with a growing burden from emergency disease conditions. Evaluations of emergency care systems in LMICs in broader contexts are lacking. Thus, this study aimed to develop a comprehensive emergency medical system model appropriate for resource-constrained settings, based on expert opinions.

Ambulance Crash in a Rural Area of Thailand.

Background: Ambulance crashes delay patient transfer and endanger patients, ambulance crews, and other road users. In low- and middle-income countries, where motor vehicle crash rates are typically high, ambulances have a high risk of being involved in a crash. This case report describes an ambulance crash in Thailand to elucidate modifiable problems in current protocols and practices of emergency medical services.