GECS was founded in 2008 as an Irish voluntary, non-profit organisation with a core objective of providing emergency care training to doctors and nurses in countries with developing healthcare systems. GECS objective of reducing morbidity and mortality is undertaken through the provision of a skills based course in trauma care, resuscitation skills and major incident management every year in a different region. The curriculum has been developed by an expert body of Irish Emergency Medicine doctors and is based on best international evidence. It is tailored to local epidemiological patterns of injury and illness and to available local healthcare resources.