The Division of Emergency Medicine at the University of Cape Town is proud to announce the launch of Community-Oriented Emergency Care (COEC), a new initiative within the Division. COEC forms part of the broader Healthy Futures South Africa programme, supported by the Mastercard Foundation, and reflects a strong commitment to strengthening emergency care in ways that are responsive to communities.

COEC is being developed in partnership with the Western Cape Government Health and Wellness: Emergency Medical Services (WCGHW EMS) and seeks to create a platform that brings together the health system and communities in a shared process of learning and collaboration. The initiative recognises that improving emergency care requires both strong system capacity and a deeper understanding of how people experience, access, and navigate care in their everyday contexts.
By drawing on the rich knowledge and lived experiences of communities, alongside the expertise of the emergency care system, COEC aims to support more connected, responsive, and contextually relevant approaches to emergency care. In particular, the initiative will focus on strengthening how care is accessed and delivered at a local level, while placing equal value on community insight and system perspectives in shaping these alternative models of care.

The initiative is led by Ms Simonay De Vos, COEC Project Manager within the Division of Emergency Medicine. She brings a strong background in public health and emergency medical services, with experience in the design and implementation of community-based programmes and health systems strengthening.