{"title":"Financial medicine as a source of moral distress: An unrecognised pathway to moral injury in the South African EMS systems","authors":"Colin Giovanni Mosca , Jaco P Kruger","doi":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.09.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.09.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><p>The phenomenon of Financial Medicine is a wide spread practice within the South African prehospital domain, which remains poorly researched. Similarly the impact of this phenomenon is not well understood, with many healthcare providers grappling with the moral dilemmas introduced into the work systems through the effects of the practice of Financial Medicine. Persisting, repetitive moral dilemmas can lead to instances of Moral Distress and Moral Injury. The practice of Financial Medicine in the South African prehospital domain proves to introduce many moral dilemmas and subsequently can serve as a source of Moral Distress and Moral Injury.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>This study used a qualitative research methodology in the form of a constructivist grounded theory design. Participants voluntarily consented to be enrolled into one-on-one in-depth interviews, and were selected using purposive and theoretical sampling techniques. Data was subjected to validated coding procedures and analysed using the constant comparative analysis approach, analytical diagramming, and supported by researcher theoretical sensitivity.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>The sub-category presented in this study stems from the development of 6 final analytical labels that were abstracted in the process of a theory construction, not presented in this article. This sub-category is nested under 1 of the final analytical labels, and comprised of 3 preliminary analytical labels and an associated code and proposition list.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Understanding the sources of Moral Distress and Moral Injury within the South African prehospital domain are key steps in promoting and supporting the adoption and sustainability of ethical practices. This article presents a key finding that demonstrates a link between the experience of the phenomenon of Financial Medicine and the suffering of a Moral Injury by South African prehospital personnel.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48515,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":"13 4","pages":"Pages 235-240"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10518332/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41158921","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Experiences and Interventions by Botswana police officers in providing emergency care in road traffic collisions in the greater Gaborone region","authors":"M. Sebakeng , M. Cox","doi":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.08.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.08.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Close to 500 people die annually from Road Traffic Collisions in Botswana. The country's Emergency Medical Service is limited in capacity and coverage and greatest in the region of the capital city, Gaborone. Botswana Police Service officers are often first responders to the incidents and provide first aid, however the extent of their interventions and their experiences has not been studied.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>A questionnaire based cross-sectional survey was conducted in January 2016 on a sample of 99 officers on past pre-hospital care training, attitudes towards providing pre-hospital care for accident victims, the number of road traffic collision related deaths and injuries encountered in the last 6 months, their interventions to the victims and limitations encountered in providing care.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>The officers self-reported attending to a median of 10 injured victims (IQR = 5 – 20) and a median of 2 deaths (IQR = 0 – 4) in the preceding 6 months. The officers generally acknowledged their role and responsibility to provide pre-hospital care to the victims. Officers frequently secured accident scenes and transported injured victims to health facilities. They rarely performed haemorrhage control on victims, performed any airway manoeuvres or splint injured limbs. The major limitations to providing care were lack of first aid supplies and personal protective equipment, lack of knowledge and skills to provide care and interference from onlookers at accident scenes.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Botswana Police officers in the greater Gaborone area attend to a considerable number of traffic related injuries and fatalities. These results support many opportunities for educational interventions to add value to pre-hospital care.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48515,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":"13 4","pages":"Pages 230-234"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/fa/a1/main.PMC10497991.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10252727","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Peter Halestrap , David Aliba , George Otieno , B. Jason Brotherton , Hannah W. Gitura , Jonathan E. Matson , Burton W. Lee , Evelyn Mbugua
{"title":"Development and delivery of a higher diploma in emergency medicine and critical care for clinical officers in Kenya","authors":"Peter Halestrap , David Aliba , George Otieno , B. Jason Brotherton , Hannah W. Gitura , Jonathan E. Matson , Burton W. Lee , Evelyn Mbugua","doi":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.08.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.08.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The provision of emergency medicine and critical care in a cost-efficient manner has the potential to address many preventable deaths in low- and middle-income countries. Here, utilising Kern's framework for curriculum development, we describe the origins, development and implementation of the Emergency Medicine and Critical Care Clinical Officer training program; Kenya's first training programme for clinical officers in emergency medicine and critical care. Graduates are scattered across the country in diverse settings, ranging from national referral hospitals in the capital, Nairobi, to rural hospitals in northern Kenya. In these locations, they provide clinical care, leadership, and teaching. Similar programmes could be replicated in other locations to help plug the gap in critical care provision in Sub-Saharan Africa.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48515,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":"13 4","pages":"Pages 225-229"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10494305/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10232617","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jonathan Kajjimu , Justine Athieno Odakha , Conrad Makai , Beneth Tusiime Kaginda , Janat Nakachwa , Annet Karungi , Frank Lubega , Jespa Tukamuwebwa , Reagan Kakande , Mary Ellen Lyon , Andrew Tagg
{"title":"The role of emergency medicine interest groups in the development of emergency medicine: A case of Mbarara University of Science and Technology—Emergency Medicine Interest Group (MUST-EMIG) in Uganda","authors":"Jonathan Kajjimu , Justine Athieno Odakha , Conrad Makai , Beneth Tusiime Kaginda , Janat Nakachwa , Annet Karungi , Frank Lubega , Jespa Tukamuwebwa , Reagan Kakande , Mary Ellen Lyon , Andrew Tagg","doi":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.07.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.07.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><p>Emergency medicine (EM) is a new specialty in Uganda. There is no current formal EM undergraduate curriculum. The Mbarara University of Science and Technology Emergency Medicine Interest Group (MUST-EMIG) was established to bridge this gap. This survey was done to assess the contributions of MUST-EMIG. Objectives of the study were to: discover students' reasons for joining the MUST-EMIG; assess whether interest in learning emergency medicine was affected by participation in MUST-EMIG; evaluate plans to pursue emergency medicine as a specialty before and after joining MUST-EMIG; determine whether MUST-EMIG affected students’ perception of emergency medicine's importance in Uganda's health care system; and elicit feedback from students on their experience as members of MUST-EMIG.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>The MUST-EMIG executive developed a membership survey which was reviewed by MUST-EMIG's faculty advisor for suitability. Members of MUST-EMIG were voluntarily asked to participate in the online survey. Results of the survey were summarized using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>49 responses (46.7% response rate) were collected and analyzed. Participants included 29 (59.2%) male and 20 (40.8%) female medical students. The majority of participants were fourth year students 22 (44.9%). 44 (89.8%) students joined MUST-EMIG to learn how to handle medical emergencies, and expressed a desire of at least 6/10 to learn more about emergency medicine after utilizing opportunities provided by MUST-EMIG. Overall, students had a good experience with MUST-EMIG. They reported that our interest group had provided them networking, unique learning, and leadership opportunities. Having an EMIG significantly affects students’ desire to pursue a career in emergency medicine and their perception of the relevance of emergency medicine.</p></div><div><h3>Discussion</h3><p>An EMIG helps develop interest of medical students in emergency medicine. Students passionate about emergency medicine need to be supported to help them preserve and further develop this passion.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48515,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":"13 3","pages":"Pages 217-220"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10432599/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10404611","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Global Health research abstracts: May ‘23","authors":"Dr. Jonathan Kajjimu","doi":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.05.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.05.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The African Journal of Emergency Medicine, in partnership with several other regional emergency medicine journals, publishes abstracts from each respective journal. Abstracts are not necessarily linked to open access papers however, all abstracts are accessible without subscription.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48515,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":"13 3","pages":"Pages 135-137"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10265458/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9697124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Systemic emergency department performance in a low resource tertiary health facility in central Kenya: Micro level emergency care system evaluation","authors":"Miriam Miima , Emmanuel Marsuk","doi":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.05.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.05.008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Emergency care system (ECS) performance is a proxy indicator of emergency care (EC) response and health systems resilience. The Emergency Care and System Assessment tool (ECSA) provides a structure for measuring emergency department (ED) systemic performance, using high quality ECS metrics. These metrics aligned with WHO targeted priority action areas facilitate synergies in supporting ECS evaluation at the micro level.</p><p>Retrospective file reviews and anecdotal evidence from a low resource tertiary health facility between 1st January 2020 – 31st May 2021 showed that: - the governance structure had administrative and financial autonomy from the public healthcare system, healthcare financing was mostly out of pocket (OPP) and the human resource ecosystem was structured in operations, enforcement and training to drive EC quality improvement. More than two thirds of the patients were high acuity but only 2% of the patients died. Most sentinel ED functions were available at the facility however the facility does not have a developed prehospital care, neurosurgical nor a burns unit.</p><p>Micro ECS framework derived from ECSA objectively interrogates performance of the healthcare system that supports EC in a tertiary facility.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48515,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":"13 3","pages":"Pages 121-126"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10239690/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9645110","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jared MCDOWALL , Andrew William MAKKINK , Kelton JARMAN
{"title":"Physical restraint within the prehospital Emergency Medical Care Environment: A scoping review","authors":"Jared MCDOWALL , Andrew William MAKKINK , Kelton JARMAN","doi":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.03.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.03.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Psychomotor agitation and aggressive behaviour (AAB) have the potential to occur in any healthcare setting, including those in which Emergency Medical Services (EMS) operate. This scoping review aimed to examine the available literature on physical restraint of patients within the prehospital setting and to identify guidelines and their effectiveness, safety to patients and health care practitioners and strategies relating to physical restraint when used by EMS.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>We performed our scoping review using the methodological framework described by Arksey and O'Malley augmented by that of Sucharew and Macaluso. Several steps guided the review process: identification of the research question, eligibility criteria, information sources (CINAHL, Medline, Cochrane and Scopus), search, selection and data collection, ethical approval, collation, summarizing and reporting on the results.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>The population of interest, in this scoping review was prehospital physically restrained patients, however, there was a reduced research focus on this population in comparison to the larger emergency department.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>The limitation of informed consent from incapacitated patients may relate to the lack of prospective real-world research from previous and future studies. Future research should focus on patient management, adverse events, practitioner risk, policy, and education within the prehospital setting.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48515,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":"13 3","pages":"Pages 157-165"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10276259/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9662951","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A 12-month retrospective descriptive analysis of a single helicopter emergency medical service operator in four South African provinces","authors":"Neville Vlok, Craig Wylie, Willem Stassen","doi":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.05.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.05.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><p>Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) is integrated into modern emergency medical services because of its suggested mortality benefit in certain patient populations, it is an expensive resource and appropriate use/feasibility in low- to middle income countries (LMIC) is highly debated. To maximise benefit, correct patient selection in HEMS is paramount. To achieve this, current practices first need to be described. The study aims to describe a population of patients utilising HEMS in South Africa, in terms of flight data, patient demographics, provisional diagnosis, as well as clinical characteristics and interventions.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>A retrospective flight- and patient-chart review were conducted, extracting clinical and mission data of a single aeromedical operator in South Africa, over a 12-month period (July 2017 – June 2018) in Gauteng, Free State, Mpumalanga and North-West provinces.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>A total of 916 cases were included (203 primary cases, 713 interfacility transport (IFT) cases). Most patients transported were male (n=548, 59.8%) and suffered blunt trauma (n=379, 41.4%). Medical pathology (n=247, 27%) and neonatal transfers (n=184, 20.1%) follows. Flights occurred mainly in daylight hours (n=729, 79.6%) with median mission times of 1-hour 53 minutes (primary missions), and 3 hours 10 minutes (IFT missions). Median on-scene times were 26 minutes (primary missions) and 55 minutes (IFT missions). Almost half were transported with an endotracheal tube (n=428, 46.7%), with a large number receiving no respiratory support (n=414, 45.2%). No patients received fibrinolysis, defibrillation, cardioversion or cardiac pacing. Intravenous fluid therapy (n=867, 94.7%) was almost universal, with common administration of sedation (n=430, 46.9%) and analgesia (n=329, 35.9%).</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Apart from the lack of universal call-out criteria and response to the high burden of trauma, HEMS seem to fulfil an important critical care transport role. It seems that cardiac pathologies are under-represented in this study and might have an important implication for crew training requirements.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48515,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":"13 3","pages":"Pages 127-134"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10238258/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9575850","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Global health research abstracts: July ‘23","authors":"Dr. Jonathan Kajjimu","doi":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.05.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.05.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The African Journal of Emergency Medicine, in partnership with several other regional emergency medicine journals, publishes abstracts from each respective journal. Abstracts are not necessarily linked to open access papers however, all abstracts are accessible without subscription.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48515,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":"13 3","pages":"Pages 141-143"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10265484/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9697123","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Obtaining feedback from patients and their family in the emergency department","authors":"Yemisi Okikiade Oyegbile , Petra Brysiewicz","doi":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.06.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.afjem.2023.06.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Obtaining feedback from the patient and their family members regarding their experience of the care they received in the emergency department is important. This provides an extremely valuable opportunity for healthcare professionals to assess the quality of care and serves to highlight any areas of weakness or strength in the care experience. Through a synthesis of available literature, this article describes the challenges in measuring such an experience especially in emergency departments in Africa, and outlines tools that are currently available in literature to measure the patient and family experience and or satisfaction. Implementation considerations are outlined in order to provide recommendations for emergency department healthcare professionals wanting to undertake such assessments.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48515,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Emergency Medicine","volume":"13 3","pages":"Pages 177-182"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10331413/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9812406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}