"Sanguine expresses optimism in the newness of the Society, and in where we believe it will take us as a profession in the future"

1 | Editorial 2 | Message from the ECSSA President 5 | News

8 | Clinical

10 | Review

19 | Opinion

20 | Interview

23 | Research Toolbox

25 | Education

27 | Student Research Review

30 | En Passant

33 | Book Review

Emergency Care in Africa: Under the Umbrella of AFEM

For information about abstract submission and registration, please visit the Society's website: www.ecssa.org.za

New Professional Board for Emergency Care Appointed

Bachelor of Health Sciences: Emergency Medical Care

The African Journal of Emergency Medicine: An International Voice for Emergency Care in Africa

Current approaches to endotracheal intubation tend to highlight the role played by technology in improving laryngoscopic view. Although valuable, video laryngoscopy is beyond the reach of many emergency care workers in under-resourced environments. In this short article, we look at getting back to basics and focusing on preparation and common sense to achieve the "best-look".

"The vast majority of lightning strikes occur over land and Africa has by far the greatest continental strike rate"

"A condition unique to lightning strikes, called keraunoparalysis, involves paralysis and loss of sensation, pallor, vasoconstriction and hypertension."

"The mortality rate of 14% reported [in the Nylstroom case] is the largest in a group including children resulting from a single lightning strike."

"Somewhere between those two extremes of 'Scoop and Ride' and 'Fiddle and Fumble' we need to strike a balance to provide optimal patient care in all cases while still providing an efficient, response time-sensitive, ambulance service"

The Australian rapid sequence intubation (RSI) trial, recently published in Annals of Surgery, is the first randomised concurrently controlled trial on pre-hospital RSI. Chris Stein interviewed the study's principal researcher, Stephen Bernard, to gain more insight into the finer detail of this important study.

We often attempt to justify professional decisions and actions on the basis of scientific evidence, in other words on the basis of research. However the meaning of the word is not always that clearly understood. So what exactly is 'research'?

Scientific research is research, but not all research is scientific

Integration of Emergency Care Technicians (ECTs) into exisiting Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has not been easy. This new qualification is largely an unknown factor to most EMS managers and administrators, it is associated with a scope of practice and equipment requirements that is different to the well-known short course BLS, ILS and ALS categories. What needs to be done to make ECTs fit more effectively into existing EMS?

The following brief extracts are a selection of research projects completed by students at Masters and Bachelors level, in the last three to six months.

Burnout Amongst ALS Paramedics in the City of Johannesburg

Perceptions of ALS Paramedic Professionalism: What Do Emergency Department Medical Practitioners Think?

The South African ALS Diploma Paramedic: A Species Nearing Extinction

Preventing Heat Loss From Warmed Intavenous Fluids: Role of Insulating the Fluid Administration Set

A selection of aricles published in the last quarter, of relevance to pre-hospital emergency care. These studies are briefly extracted, "in passing".

OUT-OF-HOSPITAL AIRWAY MANAGEMENT AND OUTCOME IN TRAUMA PATIENTS WITH GCS 8

MORPHINE VS FENTANYL VS METHOXYFLURANE FOR SEVERE PAIN IN PAEDIATRIC PATIENTS

VISUAL ASSESSMENT OF ADEQUATE CHEST RISE DURING VENTILATION OF NEONATES

A SIMPLE DEVICE TO ENHANCE PATIENT COMFORT ON BACKBOARDS

EMS MAKES A DIFFERENCE: IMPROVED CLINICAL OUTCOMES AND DOWNSTREAM HEALTHCARE SAVINGS IN THE USA

HAND ME THE BOUGIE, PLEASE

OBJECTIVE PAIN

AN ALGORITHMIC APPROACH TO THE USE OF INTRAOSSEOUS ACCESS IN PRE-HOSPITAL EMERGENCIES

LATENCY AND LOSS OF SpO2 SIGNAL DURING INTUBATION

DO NEUROMUSCULAR BLOCKERS HAVE AN EFFECT ON PUPILLARY RESPONSE?

Chris Stein reviews this personal account of life as a paramedic, spanning a period of change in South Africa and emergency care from the mid-1980s to recent times.

The ECSSA Website

www.ecssa.org.za