Developing an Emergency Medicine assessment tool for medical interns within the South African context - A Modified Delphi Study.

Introduction: Emergency Medicine is a relatively new specialty in South Africa. Limited data is available regarding junior doctors' competence in managing emergencies, however previous surveys have identified limited teaching and supervision of junior doctors in Emergency Medicine. Currently there is no formal standardised assessment tool to assess an intern's Emergency Medicine competence. The aim of the study was to, through expert opinion and consensus, develop an Emergency Medicine assessment tool to identify a level of appropriate Emergency Medicine knowledge at the end of internship. Methods: The Modified Delphi Methodology was used to create an assessment tool via interaction with a panel of experts and took place over 4 rounds via an online survey platform. The initial round identified the high-priority topics within each intern domain. A questionnaire was created based on these topics and was presented to the panel for consensus during the following round/s. Rounds continued until each question met consensus of 75 %. Results: A total of 35 panellists consented to participate, representing 6 provinces. The majority were Emergency Medicine specialists. High-priority topics included acute respiratory distress, polytrauma, dehydration and shock in children, airway management, and the agitated patient. A 40-question, multiple choice questionnaire was created with all questions reaching consensus. Conclusion: This study highlighted the core high-priority Emergency Medicine topics that interns should be exposed to during their internship and created a questionnaire aimed at evaluating them. The study findings provide a novel contribution to identifying gaps in Emergency Medicine knowledge during intern training, allowing for potential interventions to be implemented to improve intern EM training. The addition of a clinical skills component and increasing the question database is suggested to further develop this tool. Larger iterative studies involving the HPCSA, and health education experts provide avenues for future research.

A descriptive analysis of the casemix presenting to a tertiary hospital emergency centre in East London, South Africa.

Introduction: Emergency centres are most often the point of entry to the healthcare system for patients presenting with emergencies. Even though emergency medicine has developed rapidly in certain regions of South Africa, it is yet to flourish in the Eastern Cape. A paucity of data exists with regards to the demographic and disease profile of patients presenting to Eastern Cape emergency centres. This study describes the casemix presenting to a tertiary hospital emergency centre in East London in the Eastern Cape. Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted of all patients presenting to Frere Hospital emergency centre from 1st of August 2019 to 31st of October 2019. Data were manually collected from the emergency centre paper-based register for the study period and included: patient demographics, geographical location, triage category, presenting complaint, disposition, and process times. Descriptive statistics were used to describe all variables. Results: A total of 6 204 patients presented during the study period. The median age was 31 years, with a male predominance of 56%. Lower acuity triage categories (green and yellow) represented 67% of all cases. Trauma comprised 56% of all presentations, with assault being the most prevalent mechanism of injury in the adult population (n = 1 460, 48%). Sundays (18%) and Mondays (20%) had the highest patient caseload. The majority of patients were discharged home (n = 4 257, 69%) of which 79% had lower acuity triage categories. The majority of patients lived within a 20 km radius of Frere Hospital (n = 4 689, 77%). Conclusion: This descriptive study provides essential data that could guide further development of emergency care systems within the Eastern Cape. A high trauma burden, comprising predominantly of lower acuity presentations are described. Social and economic determinants of violence must be addressed and multisectoral interventions are required to reduce the high burden of trauma.

Profile of referrals to an intensive care unit from a regional hospital emergency centre in KwaZulu-Natal.

INTRODUCTION: The objective was to describe the clinical characteristics, disease profile and outcome of patients referred from a regional hospital Emergency Centre (EC) to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). METHODS: A retrospective review was performed using data extracted from the Integrated Critical Care Electronic Database (iCED). Data were extracted from the database with respect to patient characteristics, Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) grading, and outcome of the ICU referral. Modified early warning scores (MEWS) were calculated from EC referral data. RESULTS: There were a total of 2187 referrals. Of these, 56.3% (1231/2187) were male. The mean age of referrals was 36 years. Of the referred patients, 41.5% (907/2187) were initially accepted for admission. A further 378 patients were accepted for admission after a follow up ICU review. Medical conditions accounted for the majority of patient referrals, followed by general surgery and trauma. Most patients initially accepted to ICU were classified as SCCM I and II and had a mean MEWS of 4. Almost half of the patients experienced a delay in admission, most commonly due to a lack of ICU bed availability. ICU mortality was 13.6% for patients admitted from the EC. DISCUSSION: The EC population referred to the ICU was young with a high burden of medical and trauma conditions. Decisions to accept patients to ICU are limited by available resources, and there was a need to apply ICU triage criteria. Delays in the transfer of ICU patients from the EC increase the workload and contribute to EC crowding.

The geography of emergency department-based HIV testing in South Africa: Can patients link to care?

BACKGROUND: Emergency Departments (EDs) can serve as clinical sites for identification of new HIV infections and their entry into care. We examined if HIV-positive patients who present to EDs in South Africa are able to successfully link to care. METHODS: We conducted a one-year longitudinal prospective cohort study in four hospitals across the Eastern Cape, South Africa, with participants followed between July 2016 and July 2018. All adult, non-critical patients presenting to the ED were systematically approached, asked about their HIV status, and, if unknown, offered a point-of-care (POC) HIV test. All HIV-positive patients were further consented to participate in a follow-up study to assess subsequent linkage to care and distance from "home" to ED. Linkage to care was defined as self-reported linkage (telephonic) or evidence of repeated CD4/viral load testing in the National Health Laboratory System (NHLS) at either the 6- or 12-months post index ED visit. FINDINGS: A total of 983 HIV-positive patients consented to participate in the study. In the 12 months following their ED visit, 34·1% of patients demonstrated linkage to care (335/983), 23·8% did not link to care (234/983), and 42·1% (414/983) were lost to follow-up. Though not statistically significant, a high percentage of young men (27/50, 54%) and those presenting with a trauma-related complaints (100/205, 48.8%) did not link to care. A considerable proportion of patients (105/454, 23·2%,) resided 50 or more kilometers from their index ED sites, though there was not a significant difference in linkage to care rate between those who lived closer or further from the ED. INTERPRETATION: We have shown that strategies to improve linkage to care from the ED should consider the high rates of poor linkage among young men and those presenting to the ED with trauma. Furthermore, innovative linkage to care solutions will need to account for the unique geographical consideration of this population, given that many ED patients will need to continue care at a site distant from the diagnosis site. FUNDING: This research was supported by the South African Medical Research Council, the Division of Intramural Research, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, and the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health.

The impact of HIV knowledge and attitudes on HIV testing acceptance among patients in an emergency department in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

BACKGROUND: Transmission of HIV in South Africa continues to be high due to a large proportion of individuals living with undiagnosed HIV. Uptake of HIV testing is influenced by a multitude of factors including the patient's knowledge and beliefs about HIV. METHODS: This study sought to quantify the impact of knowledge and attitudes on HIV testing acceptance in an emergency department by co-administering a validated HIV knowledge and attitudes survey to patients who were subsequently offered HIV testing. RESULTS: During the study period 223 patients were interviewed and offered HIV testing. Individuals reporting more negative overall attitudes (p = 0.006), higher levels of stigma to HIV testing (p < 0.001), and individuals who believed their test was confidential (p < 0.001) were more likely to accept an HIV test. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions focused on improving patient perceptions around testing confidentiality will likely have the greatest impact on testing acceptance in the emergency department.

Targeting the HIV Epidemic in South Africa: The Need for Testing and Linkage to Care in Emergency Departments.

BACKGROUND: The Eastern Cape province of South Africa has one of the highest burdens of HIV in the world. Emergency Departments (EDs) can serve as optimal clinical sites for the identification of new HIV infections and entry into care. We sought to determine the current burden of HIV disease among ED patients in the Eastern Cape. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cross-sectional observational study in the EDs of three Hospitals in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa from June 2017 to July 2018. All adult, non-critical patients presenting to the ED were systematically approached and offered a Point-Of-Care (POC) HIV test in accordance with South African guidelines. All HIV-positive individuals had their blood tested for the presence of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and the presence of viral suppression (≤ 1000 copies/ml). HIV incidence was estimated using a multi-assay algorithm, validated for a subtype C epidemic. FINDINGS: Of the 2901 patients for whom HIV status was determined (either known HIV-positive or underwent POC HIV testing), 811 (28.0%) were HIV positive, of which 234 (28.9%) were newly diagnosed. HIV prevalence was higher in Mthatha [34% (388/1134) at Mthatha Regional Hospital and 28% (142/512) at Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital], compared to Port Elizabeth [22% (281/1255) at Livingstone Hospital]. HIV incidence was estimated at 4.5/100 person-years (95% CI: 2.4, 6.50) for women and 1.5 (CI 0.5, 2.5) for men. Of all HIV positive individuals tested for ART (585), 54% (316/585) tested positive for the presence of ARTs, and for all HIV positive participants with viral load data (609), 49% (299/609) were found to be virally suppressed. INTERPRETATION: Our study not only observed a high prevalence and incidence of HIV among ED patients but also highlights significant attrition along the HIV care cascade for HIV positive individuals. Furthermore, despite developing an optimal testing environment, we were only able to enrol a small sub-set of the ED population. Given the high HIV prevalence and high attrition in the ED population, HIV services in the ED should also develop strategies that can accommodate large testing volumes and ART initiation.

The epidemiology of sepsis in a district hospital emergency centre in Durban, KwaZulu natal.

INTRODUCTION: Sepsis is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. There is a paucity of data describing the epidemiology of sepsis in emergency centres in developing countries. This study aims to describe the clinical profile and management of patients presenting with sepsis in this setting. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was conducted in an Emergency Centre (EC) of a district hospital in Durban from December 2015 to February 2016. All patients with a diagnosis of an infection that met the Surviving Sepsis Campaign criteria for sepsis syndrome were included in the study. RESULTS: A total of 1195 patients who were diagnosed with an infection were screened. Of these, 52 of them met the inclusion criteria for the study. The criteria for severe sepsis was met in 40.3% (n 23) and 1.9% (n 1) met the criteria for septic shock. More than half of the patients were HIV positive and 30.7% did not know their HIV status. The most common sites of infection were respiratory tract, gastrointestinal and central nervous system respectively. Most patients were admitted to the general medical ward. The inpatient mortality rate was 15% for general medical ward admissions. CONCLUSION: A better understanding of the demographic and clinical profile of sepsis syndrome in South African ECs is required to guide clinical and operational policy development.

The epidemiology of sepsis in a district hospital emergency centre in Durban, KwaZulu natal

Introduction :Sepsis is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. There is a paucity of data describing the epidemiology of sepsis in emergency centres in developing countries. This study aims to describe the clinical profile and management of patients presenting with sepsis in this setting.Methods:A retrospective chart review was conducted in an Emergency Centre (EC) of a district hospital in Durban from December 2015 to February 2016. All patients with a diagnosis of an infection that met the Surviving Sepsis Campaign criteria for sepsis syndrome were included in the study.Results:A total of 1195 patients who were diagnosed with an infection were screened. Of these, 52 of them met the inclusion criteria for the study. The criteria for severesepsis was met in 40.3% (n 23) and 1.9% (n 1) met the criteria for septic shock. More than half of the patients were HIV positive and 30.7% did not know their HIV status. The most common sites of infection were respiratory tract, gastrointestinal and central nervous system respectively. Most patients were admitted to the general medical ward. The inpatient mortality rate was 15% for general medical ward admissions.Conclusion:A better understanding of the demographic and clinical profile of sepsis syndrome in South African ECs is required to guide clinical and operational policy development

Practicing medicine on the high seas: a review of South African doctors' careers in cruise ship medicine.

BACKGROUND: There has been an increase in the number of South African doctors working in the field of maritime medicine on board cruise ships. Despite this, there is a paucity of literature available addressing the epidemiology, level of expertise and continued medical education (CME) activities of cruise ship medicine. We aim to describe the demographics, qualifications and level of experience of South African doctors embarking on a career as a cruise ship doctor and assess ongoing CME and the future careers of doctors post cruise ship medicine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey was distributed to doctors either currently employed or previously employed as a cruise ship doctor from July 2012 to June 2017. The data obtained was used to describe the characteristics of South African doctors working in the field of cruise ship medicine. RESULTS: Of the 65 respondents, 61.5% were female. The majority of doctors were aged between 25 and 40 years. All South African doctors held a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree, or equivalent, as a primary medical qualification and 46% held a Diploma in Primary Emergency Care prior to working at sea. The majority of doctors obtained certification in Basic Life Support, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Paediatric Advanced Life Support and Advanced Trauma Life Support prior to joining cruise ship medicine. A wide range of courses and diplomas were undertaken by these doctors whilst working at sea. The majority of doctors opted for short to medium term contracts before returning to South Africa to pursue a land-based career, often by enrolling in postgraduate specialist training programmes. CONCLUSIONS: Maritime medicine is an emerging field of emergency medicine in South Africa and requires a high standard of competence. A robust CME programme exists whilst working at sea. Most South African doctors return to South Africa to pursue a land based career, alleviating the potential concern that South Africa is permanently losing doctors to cruise ship medicine.

Door-to-needle time for administration of fibrinolytics in acute myocardial infarction in Cape Town.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the current door-to-needle time for the administration of fibrinolytics for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in emergency centres (ECs) at three hospitals in Cape Town, and to compare it with the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology (AHA/ACC) recommendation of 30 minutes as a marker of quality of care. METHODS: A retrospective review of case notes from January 2008 to July 2010 of all patients receiving thrombolytics for AMI in the ECs of three Cape Town hospitals. The total door-to-needle time was calculated and patient demographics and presentation, physician qualification, clinical symptomology and reasons for delays in thromobolytic administration were analysed. RESULTS: A total of 372 patients with acute ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) were identified; 161 patients were eligible for the study. The median door-to-needle time achieved was 54 minutes (range 13 - 553 mins). A door-to-needle time of 30 minutes or less was achieved in 33 (20.5%) patients; 51.3% of the patients arrived by ambulance; 34% of patients had a pre-hospital 12-lead ECG; and 88.8% had typical symptoms of myocardial infarction. Medical officers administered thrombolytics to 44.7% of the patients. The predominant infarct location on ECG was inferior (55.9%). CONCLUSION: A significant number of patients were not thrombolysed within 30 minutes of presentation. The lack of senior doctors, difficulty interpreting ECGs, atypical presentations and EC system delays prolonged the door-to-needle time in this study.