A qualitative exploration of community members expectations of emergency medical services in Soweto, South Africa

Introduction In urban settings, access to the healthcare system is commonly initiated via Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Consequently, community members have expectations relating to the service they expect to receive from their EMS. This said, the public and EMS providers do not always share the same views as to what constitutes an emergency or the core role of EMS. In this study we investigated and described the expectations of a sample of community leaders in Soweto, South Africa relating to their expectations of EMS.