Surgical Hub: Kigali, Rwanda

Promoting Trauma Education Through ATLS in Rwanda

In February, Rwanda officially promulgated the Advanced Trauma Life Support® (ATLS®) Course, marking a major step in trauma care development. This achievement was the result of a collaborative effort led by the Rwandan Surgical Society, Rwanda Military Referral and Teaching Hospital (RMRTH), and the Rwanda Ministry of Health, with support from the ACS Committee on Trauma (COT) and ACS Region 17.

Professor Emmy Agabe Nkusi, MBChB, FACS, a neurosurgeon at RMRTH and Chair of the Rwanda Trauma Task Force, played a key role in championing this initiative. His colleagues Emile Musoni, MD, Mmed and Hope Jean Marie Vianney, MD became ATLS instructors during recent courses held in Hawassa, Ethiopia. 

Under the leadership of COT Region 17 Chief Abdelhakim Elkholy, MBBCh, FACS, faculty from Rwanda, Ethiopia, the US, and Middle East North Africa (Region17) trained 32 Rwandan emergency medicine and surgery providers. To further expand instructional capacity, Drs. Walid Abou Galala and Getu Ataro, led an instructor course resulting in nine new instructor candidates, four of whom achieved full instructor status after assisting with a subsequent ATLS provider course.

Beyond ATLS promulgation, ACS COT and ACS Health Outreach Program for Equity (H.O.P.E.) are collaborating to strengthen broader trauma system development in Rwanda. Key initiatives include:

• Establishing the Rwandan Trauma Task Force
• Hosting an immersive trauma system experience for task force members in Washington State
• Assisting the Ministry of Health in drafting a national trauma system development plan

The plan outlines strategies for expanding trauma education—including ATLS, Trauma Evaluation and Management^® (TEAM^®), Prehospital Trauma Life Support® (PHTLS^®), and Advanced Trauma Care for Nurses^® (ATCN^®)—along with trauma center standards, quality improvement initiatives, disaster preparedness programs, and infrastructure investments.

These efforts have received strong support from Rwanda’s Minister of Health, Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana, and RMRTH Commandant Colonel Dr. Eugene Ngoga. ACS H.O.P.E. leadership congratulates all those involved and applauds their commitment to improving care for the injured patient.