Life-Saving Basics: What Every Hospital Needs for Essential Emergency and Critical Care (EECC)
When people imagine “life-saving hospital care,” they often think of advanced machines, complex surgeries, and highly specialised drugs. But in reality, the care that saves the most lives is far simpler — and too often overlooked.
This is the idea behind Essential Emergency and Critical Care (EECC): a set of basic, proven actions that every hospital in the world should be able to deliver, for every critically ill patient.
Why the basics matter most
A patient is critically ill when their vital organs — like the heart, lungs or brain — start to fail. Without urgent action, death is likely. But here’s the crucial point: the treatments that can stabilise a patient in this state are usually low-cost and low-complexity.
We’re talking about oxygen for someone struggling to breathe. Monitoring vital signs so that deterioration is spotted early. Giving intravenous fluids to a patient in shock. Keeping the airway open when it’s blocked. These aren’t high-tech miracles. They’re the essentials.
The EECC package: 40 actions, 66 requirements
Through a global consensus of 269 clinical experts, researchers identified exactly what counts as essential care. The result is the EECC package:
40 life-saving clinical actions – practical steps like checking a patient’s breathing rate, giving antibiotics for sepsis, or protecting the airway.
66 hospital readiness requirements – the resources needed to make those actions possible, from equipment like pulse oximeters and oxygen supplies to systems like trained staff and clear routines.
Together, these define the minimum that every hospital should provide.
A global problem with a simple solution
The Hospital Burden of Critical Illness across Global Settings Study revealed that more than 90% of critically ill patients are cared for in general hospital wards, not in intensive care units. And yet, in many settings, these patients don’t receive even the most basic interventions.
In Malawi, almost nine in ten patients with dangerously low oxygen levels did not get oxygen therapy. In the UK, most patients who went on to have a cardiac arrest had warning signs that were missed. These aren’t rare lapses — they are part of a global pattern.
By making EECC the standard, health systems can close this deadly quality gap.
More impact for less cost
One of the strongest arguments for EECC is value. While intensive care is vital for some patients, it is also expensive and resource-heavy. EECC, on the other hand, is designed to be feasible everywhere — whether in a rural hospital in Malawi or a regional hospital in Sweden.
By ensuring the basics are always provided, hospitals can prevent deterioration, reduce the need for ICU care, and save far more lives.
Building a safer future
The lesson is simple: no patient should die because the fundamentals of care were missed. EECC is not about replacing advanced care. It’s about making sure that the basics — the things that matter most — are delivered to everyone, everywhere.
At EECC Global, we are working to make this vision a reality. Because sometimes, the simplest actions are the ones that save the most lives.