Integrative Biomedical Research
Integrative Biomedical Research (Journal of Angiotherapy) | Online ISSN 3068-6326
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Volume 8 Number 8 2024
REVIEWS (Open Access)
Advancements in Emergency Medicine in Saudi Arabia: Professional Roles, System Contributions, and Evolving Practice Landscapes
Ahmed Abdullah Mohammed Salami 1*, Khaled Hamad Salem Al-Anazi 1, Abdullah Ali Fahad Al-Shehri 1, Khaled Nashi Bajad Al-Otaibi 1, Ahmed Yahya Jaber Haqawi 1, Fahad Naïf Mahmas Al- Otaibi 1, Ahmed Ali Mohammed Alfahimi 1
Journal of Angiotherapy 8 (8) 1-12 https://doi.org/10.25163/angiotherapy.8810693
Submitted: 04 June 2024 Revised: 12 August 2024 Accepted: 14 August 2024 Published: 15 August 2024
Abstract
Emergency medicine in Saudi Arabia has undergone a striking transformation over the past few decades. What began as a fragmented and largely volunteer-based response to urgent illness and injury has gradually developed into a more organized specialty shaped by national reform, institutional investment, and the broader ambitions of Vision 2030. Yet this progress, while substantial, has not been entirely uniform. Important differences still persist across regions, training environments, and service settings. This review examines the historical evolution of emergency medicine in the Kingdom, with particular attention to prehospital emergency medical services, specialty training, residency structure, professional development, and the changing roles of emergency physicians, nurses, paramedics, and allied personnel. It also considers the realities of current practice, including crowding, workforce shortages, uneven distribution of trained staff, and variability between academic and peripheral emergency departments. The evidence suggests that Saudi Arabia has made meaningful gains in emergency medicine education, simulation-based training, subspecialty fellowships, and mass-gathering preparedness, particularly through the distinctive Hajj rotation. At the same time, regulatory development for EMS, emergency nursing capacity, and equitable access to high-quality care remain works in progress. The review further highlights system-level strategies that may help address these pressures, including strengthening primary and urgent care access, improving hospital flow processes, expanding the trained emergency workforce, and formalizing national EMS standards. Taken together, these developments suggest that Saudi emergency medicine is no longer emerging in a tentative sense; rather, it is evolving into a mature discipline, though one that still faces important structural and workforce challenges.
Keywords: Saudi Arabia; emergency medicine; emergency medical services; workforce development; Vision 2030
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