“Now Any Health Worker Can Save a Life”: EECC at Vwawa District Hospital

This May marked the beginning of something new at Vwawa District Hospital in Tanzania’s Songwe region: the rollout of Essential Emergency and Critical Care (EECC). As part of the national EECC in Tanzania programme (EECCiT), every single acute care health worker at Vwawa is being trained in the skills needed to save lives using simple, effective treatments.

For Dr. Stanford Ngeta, a medical doctor at Vwawa, the changes have already been profound.

Recognising Patients in Urgent Need

Dr. Ngeta explained that the training has given staff a sharper eye for spotting patients in danger:

“First and foremost, we have been able to recognize patients who require emergency care, thanks to the EECC training.”

One example stands out. A patient arrived struggling to breathe. In the past, the hospital had relied almost entirely on a single oxygen delivery device—the nasal prong. Now, after training, staff are confident using a wider range of equipment, such as face masks and non-rebreather masks. These simple additions mean staff can respond more effectively to patients in respiratory distress.

EECC Training in action

Care Beyond the Doctor’s Office

One of the most significant shifts, according to Dr. Ngeta, is that responsibility for life-saving critical care has been clarified.

“Emergency care is no longer dependent on doctors alone; any health worker can now provide such life-saving interventions.”

This means that from nurses to clinical officers, staff across the hospital now have the tools and confidence to act quickly when a patient becomes critically ill. In emergencies, every minute counts—and widening the circle of staff who can intervene is already making a difference.

A Whole-Hospital Approach

What makes Vwawa unique is its ambition: 100% of acute care staff are being trained in EECC, making it the first hospital in Tanzania to adopt this approach across the board.

For Dr. Ngeta, the benefits are clear:

“We have received this training with deep gratitude, as it greatly supports us in our daily practice. We have come to realize that emergency conditions are an everyday reality, and they require timely intervention, not only from doctors but from any health worker in the facility.”

This culture shift—from specialist-led to team-wide emergency and critical care response—strengthens the hospital’s ability to provide timely, reliable critical care.

Dr Ngeta speaking about EECC at Vwawa.

Scaling Up for Tanzania

The training at Vwawa is part of a much bigger story. Across Tanzania, EECC is being rolled out in hospitals and health centres, backed by the Ministry of Health, UNICEF, MUHAS, and partners, with funding from Global Affairs Canada.

For Dr. Ngeta, the next step is ensuring that what is happening at Vwawa spreads further:

“We hope that these services will continue to expand to other facilities and eventually reach the whole of Tanzania.”

At EECC Global, we share that hope. The progress at Vwawa shows what’s possible when essential care is prioritised. With every health worker trained and empowered to act, critical illness is no longer a death sentence—it’s a challenge that can be met, even in resource-limited settings.

The EECC training course is freely available worldwide at www.eeccglobal.org/training