Developing prehospital clinical practice guidelines for resource limited settings: why re-invent the wheel?

Abstract

Methods on developing new (de novo) clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have received substantial attention. However, the volume of literature is not matched by research into alternative methods of CPG development using existing CPG documents—a specifc issue for guideline development groups in low- and middle-income countries. We report on how we developed a context specifc prehospital CPG using an alternative guideline development method. Difculties experienced and lessons learnt in applying existing global guidelines’ recommendations to a national context are highlighted.