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Emergency Care
Nineteen-day wait for emergency op in KwaZulu-Natal hospital
The plight of a Northern KwaZulu-Natal man who fell through a roof and broke his femur echoes the stories of thousands of patients who...
Emergency personnel may be linked to ambulances sabotage
Mpumalanga authorities are investigating claims that some Health Department staff deliberately damaged ambulances in acts of sabotage, rendering them unusable.
The province is already desperately...
New Wits burns unit opens at Bara
Wits University has opened its new Roy McAlpine Burns Unit at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital – which has the only public burns...
High incident of PTSD in patients post ICU stay – SA study
The burden of mental health diseases in ICU survivors is substantial, a recent study has found, and can have lasting effects on well-being, and...
Under-fire EMS staff plead for support, safer conditions
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) workers in Nelson Mandela Bay protested outside the city hall last week, calling for safer working conditions after numerous robberies...
Gauteng boosts EMS services with intern programme
Gauteng’s Emergency Medical Services welcomed 1 120 emergency care interns to its newly launched Green Angels programme last week, a 12-month initiative providing essential...
Temporary ambulance numbers as Eastern Cape phones cut
With Telkom lines to most Eastern Cape Department of Health facilities being cut due to non-payment of bills, the phone numbers of ambulance bases...
Only one of four sepsis screening tools 'reasonably accurate' – German study
Paramedics and A&E doctors almost never suspect sepsis and two of the four ways health professionals screen for the killer condition do not work,...
Community-based paramedics save lives – and need no SAPS escorts
Unlike paramedics operating elsewhere in Cape Town – or across South Africa – the crews of the Hout Bay Volunteer Emergency Medical Service do...
Simpler CPR techniques encourages the public to intervene
A Swedish review of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest data shows rates of bystander CPR nearly doubled; compression-only (or Hands-Only CPR) increased six-fold over an 18-year...
Use of adrenaline doubles risk of brain damage in cardiac arrest patients
A clinical trial of the use of adrenaline in cardiac arrests has found that its results in less than 1% more people leaving hospital...
People reluctant to use public access defibrillators
A study led by researchers at the University of Warwick suggests that people are reluctant to use public access defibrillators to treat cardiac arrests....
Myth of 'tongue swallowing' is costing lives of athletes through SCA
An analysis of video footage showing top athletes suffering sudden circulatory arrest (SCA) found a 'very disturbing' picture of teammates responding incorrectly. Prevention of...