Triage

Emergency nurses, we invite you to voice your opinion on the following statement: In South Africa we are currently mandated to triage patients in emergency departments using SATS (South African Triage Scale), a set of protocols which incorporates relevant vital signs and acuity discriminators to expedite the delivery of time critical treatment for patients with life-threatening conditions (The South African Triage Scale Training Manual 2012). Controversy exists on who should be triaging patients prior to entering the emergency departments. We all agree that nurses are predominantly responsible for triage. Based on ‘The South African Triage Scale Training Manual’ (2012:2) it is reported that adequately trained enrolled nursing assistants (ENAs) has been shown to be as adequate as international standard requirements of internal standards of nursing triage. Reference Republic of South Africa: Western Cape Government Health. 2012. The South African Triage Scale Training Manual. Access: 30 March 2015. Available from: http://emssa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/SATS-Manual-A5-LR-spreads.pdf

E-Flyer Head Injury Prevention

March 2015

 

Head Injury Prevention

 

Anyone who decides to ride a bicycle or motorcycle must consider, that wearing a helmet is the most effective strategy for preventing head injuries from a crash or fall. 

Yearly, hundreds of people suffer head injuries and die from head injuries sustained following a fall from their bike. With the emergence of Quadbikes, which can be driven at higher speeds, the statistics for deaths and injuries has increased further. 

World Head Injury Awareness Day (yearly on 20 March) is there to remind us of how we can reduce accidents and brain injuries. It advocates the correct use of safety gadgets such as helmets and seat belts, which can prevent damage to the head when one is involved in an accident.

Globally every year more than 5% of people suffer serious brain injury after an accident or as a result of accidentally bumping their head.

An estimated 89 000 cases of new traumatic brain injuries are reported annually in South Africa.

Prevention of head injuries

 

·         Always wear a seat belt when in a motor vehicle

·         Use an appropriate child safety seat (Remember: rear-facing is safer than forward facing)

·         Never drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs

·         Always wear a helmet when on a bicycle, motorcycle or scooter

·         Use the rails on stairways

·         Provide adequate lighting on stairs for people with poor vision

·         Do not place obstacles on pathways

·         Provide the correct safety equipment for workers.

 

 

 

 

 

Ebola Virus Disease and Emergency Nurses

Ebola Virus Disease and Emergency Nurses

On 26 August 1976 a patient arrived at the small mission hospital at Yambuku, along the Ebola river in the now Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was received and treated by the nurses at the emergency room of this small hospital – and within days, 11 of these nurses contracted what is now known as Ebola Virus Disease and died.

Today, nearly 40 year later, nurses are again involved in managing an outbreak, now with approximately 24000 cases, in a different part of Africa, in which nearly 800 health care practitioners contracted the disease and more than 500 died - many of them nurses.

In view of this threat, emergency nurses rose to the challenge in South Africa to ensure that the Emergency Departments of all hospitals are prepared and ready to manage a suspected case of EVD with adequate protection for all health care practitioners.

Emergency Nurses are now, unlike our predecessors in Yambuku, aware that the disease presents with very general symptoms such as fever, headache, nausea and vomiting, but that good patient history recording can identify a suspected patient who was in contact with a sick person or with a travel history to or from affected areas. We are now prepared to protect the health care practitioners in the Emergency Department against body fluid transmission of EVD, which include blood, urine, saliva, sweat, faeces, vomitus, breast milk and semen, by donning personal protective equipment protecting broken skin and mucus membranes from contact with body fluids. For this purpose sets of PPE are kept ready in most Emergency Departments.

Currently, in most hospitals, the Emergency Nurses are fulfilling a lead role in identifying an appropriate area in the department where isolation areas can be established in the form of a red isolation area, separated by an effective yellow transit area from a green support area.

Specialised short courses on establishing high security bio-safety isolation in the Emergency Departments are now also available for emergency nurses and the details are available from ENSSA.

Through their actions; emergency nurses had not only contributed extensively to the readiness levels of hospitals, but had also demonstrated their commitment to patient care by volunteering to participate in the care teams managing and transporting suspected Ebola Virus Disease patients, with a commitment to care and compassion. Currently emergency nurses all over South Africa stand ready to identify, isolate, manage, but most importantly, provide care for patients with suspected Ebola Virus Disease.

Theo Ligthelm, RN

(Only Nurse on the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Ebola Virus Disease)