Workplace violence in three public sector emergency departments, Gauteng, South Africa: A cross-sectional survey.

Introduction: Workplace violence against healthcareworkers in Emergency Departments (EDs) is a global concern. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and types of workplace violence in EDs.

Methods: a cross-sectional survey was conducted in three public sector hospital EDs in Gauteng, South Africa.

The psychological impact of COVID-19 on frontline doctors in Tshwane public hospitals.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic placed immense pressure on frontline doctors. Burnout is a psychological syndrome that develops in response to chronic work stress. It consists of emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalisation (DP) and reduced personal accomplishment (PA).

The use of point-of-care ultrasound in Tshwane public and private sector emergency units.

Background: The use of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is an essential skill in the practice of emergency medicine (EM), with benefit to patient care by improving diagnostic accuracy. Despite this, there exists little data evaluating the use of POCUS in South African emergency units (EUs.).

A qualitative study of COVID-19 related reasons for delayed presentation of patients with chest pain during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: In previous pandemics such as the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa, it has been observed that patients with non-pandemic related complaints, delay their presentation to hospital. Similarly, delayed presentation of patients with chest pain during the COVID-19 pandemic has been documented. This qualitative study identified the COVID-19 related reasons which lead to this delay.

Predicting mortality in trauma patients - A retrospective comparison of the performance of six scoring systems applied to polytrauma patients from the emergency centre of a South African central hospital.

Introduction: Over 90% of trauma-related deaths worldwide, ensue in low- and middle-income countries. Multiple useful trauma scoring systems have been devised. Although validated in high-income countries, they cannot always be replicated in resource-limited countries.

Case Report: Safe Tourniquet Removal in Black Mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis) Bites.

The black mamba is known for its notorious potent neurotoxic venom. For this reason, their bites are often erroneously treated in the field with the application of a tourniquet in the hope of delaying systemic spread of the venom. Observational studies have shown that inappropriate tourniquet application is a common, harmful practice.

A case report of detecting subclinical coagulopathy in a patient with boomslang (Dipholidus typus) bite.

The boomslang (Dipholidus typus) has a predominantly haemotoxic venom. Because of the consumptive nature of the coagulopathy, signs and symptoms are usually delayed by up to 72 h after the bite. Traditional laboratory coagulation assays have a long turnaround time, by which time the patient's bleeding and clotting profile has changed.

Ethylene glycol poisoning: A diagnostic challenge in a patient with persistent seizures and a severe metabolic acidosis.

Introduction: Due to the nationwide lockdown to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and subsequent alcohol ban in South Africa, several cases of toxic alcohol ingestion presented to our emergency unit. Many of these patients admitted to making home brews of alcohol while others simply use industrial toxic alcohols. The diagnosis of these poisonings is challenging as direct assays are not available in our setting.

A cross-sectional survey of burnout amongst doctors in a cohort of public sector emergency centres in Gauteng, South Africa.

Introduction: Working in emergency care is commonly regarded as highly stressful. This is also true in the African setting characterised by high patient loads and limited resources. As in other similarly demanding occupations, burnout can be anticipated.

Design and validation of a clinical scale for prehospital stroke recognition, severity grading and prediction of large vessel occlusion: the shortened NIH Stroke Scale for emergency medical services.

Objective: To develop an NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS)-compatible, all-in-one scale for rapid and comprehensive prehospital stroke assessment including stroke recognition, severity grading and progression monitoring as well as prediction of large vessel occlusion (LVO).

Methods: Emergency medical services (EMS) personnel and stroke physicians (n=326) rated each item of the NIHSS regarding suitability for prehospital use; best rated items were included. Stroke recognition was evaluated retrospectively in 689 consecutive patients with acute stroke or stroke mimics, prediction of LVO in 741 consecutive patients with ischaemic stroke with acute vessel imaging independent of admission NIHSS score.

Comparison of stroke recognition and stroke severity scores for stroke detection in a single cohort.

Objective: First, to determine the sensitivity and specificity of six stroke recognition scores in a single cohort to improve interscore comparability. Second, to test four stroke severity scores repurposed to recognise stroke in parallel.

Methods: Of 9154 emergency runs, 689 consecutive cases of preclinically 'suspected central nervous system disorder' admitted to the emergency room (ER) of the Heidelberg University Hospital were included in the validation cohort.

Competition between heterogeneous and homogeneous nucleation near a flat wall.

We studied the competition between heterogeneous and homogeneous nucleation of an aqueous suspension of charged colloidal spheres close to the container walls. Samples of equilibrium crystalline structure were shear-melted and the metastable melt left to solidify after the cessation of shear. The crystallization kinetics was monitored using time-resolved scattering techniques: at low particle number densities n we applied an improved static light scattering method while at large particle concentrations ultra-small-angle x-ray scattering was applied for the first time.