Assessing the knowledge of emergency medical care practitioners in the Free State, South Africa, on aspects of pre-hospital management of psychiatric emergencies.

Introduction: Studies have reported that emergency medical care practitioners (EMCPs) encounter challenges when attending to psychiatric emergencies. The EMC provider's ability to understand, assess and manage psychiatric emergencies has been reported to be poor due to limited knowledge and insufficient training. In South Africa (SA), little is known about the knowledge of EMCPs on pre-hospital management of psychiatric emergencies.