When Dr Suvd Nugui returned to Mongolia after training in the United States, she came back to a system where most of her colleagues had never heard the word “paramedic.” Neither had her parents.

Her solution was simple and radical: if she could not be everywhere, she could train people who could. Seven years later, she is training more than 80 clinicians and drivers annually with a team of international paramedics. One result: Mongolian EMS doctors are performing ECG interpretation on monitors that sat unused for months because no one knew how to operate them.

In this episode, Dr Suvd speaks with podcast host Hamish McLean about what sustained prehospital capacity-building actually looks like from the inside - the cultural barriers, the equipment gaps, the communication challenges and why a team that keeps coming back changes everything.

About Dr Suvd Nugui Dr Suvd Nugui is a Mongolian cardiologist and in-country director of the EMS Global Foundation’s Mongolia programme, where she has led training delivery and local stakeholder engagement since 2018.

Before the Hospital is produced by EMS Global Foundation. We examine how resource-constrained emergency care systems are built, funded, and reformed before the patient reaches hospital. Learn more at ems-global.org.