Use of social media by Emergency Medical Care students and qualified Advanced Life Support providers in South Africa

The European Union (EU) Mass Casualties and Health (MASH) project that ran between 2008 and 2010 was designed to study the management of mass casualties from chemical and radiological releases and associated health implications. One area of study for this project concerned arrangements within EU Member States for the management of mass casualties following a chemical release. This was undertaken via a confidential online questionnaire that was sent to selected points of contact throughout the EU. Responses were obtained from 18 states from respondents holding senior positions in chemical planning and incident response. Information gathered shows a lack of uniformity within the EU about the organization of responses to chemical releases and the provision of medical care. This article presents the overall findings of the study demonstrating differences between countries on planning and organization, decontamination, prehospital emergency medical responses, clinical diagnoses, and therapy and aftercare. Although there may be an understandable reluctance from national respondents to share information on security and other grounds, the findings, nevertheless, revealed substantial differences between current planning and operational responses within the EU states for the management of mass chemical casualties. The existing international networks for response to radiation incidents are not yet matched by equivalent networks for chemical responses yet sufficient information was available from the study to identify potential deficiencies, identify common casualty management pathways, and to make recommendations for future operations within the EU. Improvements in awareness and training and the application of modern information and communications will help to remedy this situation. Specialized advanced life support and other medical care for chemical casualties appear lacking in some countries. A program of specialized training and action are required to apply the findings revealed by the MASH study into a unified cross-border emergency medical response.

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Lifestyle risk behaviour of Emergency Medical Care workers in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa

South Afican Journal of Pre-hospital Emergency Care ◽

10.24213/1-1-3626 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Annelie Gresse ◽

Castyn Winfield ◽

Emma Slabbert ◽

Philipp Bölke ◽

Rachel Aucamp ◽

...

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Medical Care ◽

Risk Behaviour ◽

Emergency Medical Care ◽

Nelson Mandela ◽

Emergency Medical ◽

Care Workers ◽

Lifestyle Risk

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Paramedic students’ confidence and satisfaction with clinical simulations of an emergency medical care programme in South Africa: A cross-sectional study

Health SA Gesondheid ◽

10.4102/hsag.v26i0.1522 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 ◽

Author(s):

Peter T. Sandy ◽

John T. Meyer ◽

Oluwaseun S. Oduniyi ◽

Azwihangwisi H. Mavhandu-Madzusi

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Medical Care ◽

Emergency Medical Care ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Care Programme ◽

Clinical Simulation ◽

Self Confidence ◽

Emergency Medical ◽

Clinical Simulations ◽

Students Satisfaction

Background: There has been an increase in the use of clinical simulations as instructional tools in healthcare education. This is because of their role in ensuring patients’ safety and quality-care provision.Aim: This study investigated the paramedic students’ satisfaction and self-confidence in the clinical simulation of an emergency medical care programme.Setting: The study was conducted at the Durban University of Technology in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. The paramedic students’ satisfaction and self-confidence in the clinical simulation of an emergency medical care programme were the focus of the study.Methods: The study used a cross-sectional research design. A convenience sampling method was used to select the 83-paramedic students who participated in the study. Data were collected between July and September 2017 using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages and Spearman’s rank-order correlation coefficient) and an inferential test, ordinal logistic regression analysis, were used for data analysis.Results: High levels of paramedic students’ satisfaction and self-confidence in simulation activities were reported. Generally, the paramedic students’ demographics were associated with the satisfaction and self-confidence variables with p-values ≤ 0.04. Emergency medical care training undertaken by the paramedic students was significantly associated with self-confidence (p = 0.00).Conclusion: Clinical simulation can bridge the theory-practice gap for paramedic students. It is a hands-on approach that promotes students learning of clinical skills through reflection.

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Civilian Exposure to Toxic Agents: Emergency Medical Response

Prehospital and Disaster Medicine ◽

10.1017/s1049023x00001709 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 174-178 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

David Baker

Keyword(s):

Medical Care ◽

Life Support ◽

Action Plan ◽

Signs And Symptoms ◽

Potential Hazard ◽

Emergency Medical Care ◽

Toxic Agent ◽

Medical Response ◽

Emergency Medical ◽

Toxic Agents

AbstractCivilian populations are at risk from exposure to toxic materials as a result of accidental or deliberate exposure. In addition to industrial hazards, toxic agents designed for use in warfare now are a potential hazard in everyday life through terrorist action. Civil emergency medical responders should be able to adapt their plans for dealing with casualties from hazardous materials (HazMat) to deal with the new threat.Chemical and biological warfare (CBW) and HazMat agents can be viewed as a continuous spectrum. Each of these hazards is characterized by qualities of toxicity, latency of action, persistency, and transmissibility. The incident and medical responses to release of any agent is determined by these characteristics.Chemical and biological wardare agents usually are classified as weapons of mass destruction, but strictly, they are agents of mass injury. The relationship between mass injury and major loss of life depends very much on the protection, organization, and emergency care provided.Detection of a civil toxic agent release where signs and symptoms in casualties may be the first indicator of exposure is different from the military situation where intelligence information and tuned detection systems generally will be available.It is important that emergency medical care should be given in the context of a specific action plan. Within an organized and protected perimeter, triage and decontamination (if the agent is persistent) can proceed while emergency medical care is provided at the same time.The provision of advanced life support (TOXALS) in this zone by protected and trained medical responders now is technically feasible using specially designed ventilation equipment. Leaving life support until after decontamination may have fatal consequences. Casualties from terrorist attacks also may suffer physical as well as toxic trauma and the medical response also should be capable of dealing with mixed injuries.

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Emergency Medical Care for Mass Accidents in Prague, CSSR

Prehospital and Disaster Medicine ◽

10.1017/s1049023x00045064 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 1 (S1) ◽

pp. 338

Author(s):

Bohumil Sefrna ◽

Mikes Rudolf

Keyword(s):

Medical Care ◽

Emergency Service ◽

Life Support ◽

Ambulance Service ◽

Emergency Medical Care ◽

Emergency Medical

The Prague Emergency Service brought help in many cases of mass accidents with 30 to 120 injured persons (explosions, train crashes, plane crashes, tram crashes, etc.) during the years 1955–1979. We have discovered facts from our own experience and by comparison with disasters in other parts of our country. Prague's mobile ICU-type ambulance service has provided advanced resuscitation and life-support by physicians, since the early 1960s, also for multicasualty incidents.It is necessary to reduce the consequences of mass injuries to a minimum. Some principal questions are: who is to be treated immediately, who can wait, where is help unnecessary?

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