Barriers to Emergency Healthcare Access in Ethiopia: Understanding Transportation, Communication, and Emergency Response

This literature review examines barriers to emergency healthcare access in Ethiopia, with particular attention to transportation, communication, road infrastructure, ambulance utilization, and pre-hospital emergency care. It reviews evidence from studies of emergency medical service use in Addis Ababa and ambulance utilization in Jimma, as well as qualitative research on challenges facing pre-hospital emergency services. The review also considers the potential role of digital technologies in improving emergency coordination and presents HealthReach, a student-developed prototype exploring connections among patients, ambulance drivers, and hospitals. The review finds that emergency healthcare access is affected by multiple interconnected factors, including distance, transportation, communication, infrastructure, ambulance availability, and healthcare resources. It also recognizes that digital technology can address only part of these challenges and cannot replace physical infrastructure, ambulances, or trained medical personnel.