Emergency unit equipment - proper prepration is paramount!

MORE ABOUT mouth-to-mouth breathing, is a pocket mask (can be bought at your local first-aid supplier). • triangular bandages or linen strips • a few splints. Are there people who are injured? How many people are injured? Are any people unconscious? Are any people trapped in the motor vehicles? • Are there any other special hazards? Now, faced with many injured people, you have to decide who to treat first, sorting according to a triage system. Unconscious people are the first priority because if they are lying on their backs they may choke and die. All unconscious persons should be turned on their side, taking care to keep the neck in line with the rest of the vertebral column. Once you have quickly run around and determined who the seriously injured are, you can begin to treat them first. In addition, when the emergency services arrive, you will be able to point out those who are the most seriously injured. Help Now assess each patient's ABCs. If you feel you can help, park well away from the scene and walk to the accident Hello Once at the accident scene you need to establish the following: • • • • Now, using the information mentioned above, call for help by phoning one of the following national emergency numbers — 10177 or 10111, or 112 on your cellphone, and • identify yourself • give a call-back number (in case you are cut off or they need more information later) • give your precise location (the nearest cross street) • say exactly what is wrong (e.g. motor vehicle accident, taxi and car, 12 people injured, 1 person trapped in the vehicle) • answer any questions the call-taker may ask you • try to create a picture in the calltaker’s mind of what is actually happening on the scene — you are his/her eyes. Once you have made the call send someone with a red rag to wave down arriving emergency services, because your exact location or the location of the accident may not be easily visible from the roadway. Now you can attend to the injured. A basic first-aid kit would be quite useful, so make sure you have one in the car. It need only contain the absolute basics, such as: • • • • wound dressings bandages latex gloves pocket mask 332 CME June 2004 Vol.22 No.6 Airway Is each person’s airway open, is air able to pass through the mouth and nose and into the lungs? If the person is talking, his/her airway is open. Any noisy breathing means the airway is obstructed. Unconscious people should be turned on their side; this will open the airway. If the person is sitting in the car with the head flexed forward, the airway is closed. Lift the head back until the eyes are looking forward and maintain this position until help arrives. This is best performed from behind the patient, i.e. from the back seat. Breathing Check for breathing. If there is no breathing use your pocket mask to give rescue breaths — 1 breath every 5 seconds. Circulation Check for bleeding. If there is bleeding, apply direct pressure with a dressing, towel or piece of material over the bleeding area and maintain the pressure. Don’t remove the dressing bandage — keep it in place, ensuring that the bleeding has been controlled. Splint any fractures in the position of most comfort for the patient. Splinting a fracture reduces internal bleeding and pain. Go from patient to patient, helping each in turn. It may be a while before emergency services reach you, especially if you are in a rural area. Once you have managed each patient, repeat the assessment process and reevaluate each person. There may have been changes, e.g. bleeding may have started again, the person may have become unconscious. Re-evaluate your HHHABC protocol. Hazards may be worsening, you may need to call the emergency services again and you will definitely need to reassess the injured constantly. Lastly, but most importantly, prevention of accidents is a priority. Make your environment safe and don’t drink and drive, dive, swim, fly, walk or do any activity where you place yourself or others at risk. No amount of alcohol is safe — don’t drink and drive! EMERGENCY UNIT EQUIPMENT — PROPER PREPARATION IS PARAMOUNT! W G J KLOECK, MB BCh, Dip PEC (SA) National Chairman: Resuscitation Council of Southern Africa, Northcliff, Johannesburg The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa states ‘No one may be refused emergency medical treatment’. The South African Constitutional Court defines an emergency as ‘a dramatic, sudden situation or event which is of a passing nature in terms of time’. Health facilities, whether private or public, are required to provide emergency treatment.1 In an emergency the public, whether as patients, family members or friends, expect health care professionals to perform quickly and skilfully, using MORE ABOUT Table I. Suggested equipment for emergency units Assessment and monitoring devices Universal precautions • gloves • face mask • eye protection ECG monitor/defibrillator with • monitoring electrodes, gauze and razor blade • conductive paste (or defibrillation pads) • adult and paediatric paddles (or hands-free pads) • transcutaneous pacing • cardiac arrest board Blood pressure device with • large, normal adult, child and infant cuffs • stethoscope • Doppler monitoring Blood glucose testing equipment Thermometer • hyper- and hypothermic readings Pulse oximeter Airway and breathing devices Oxygen delivery devices • rebreather masks • nasal cannulae • oxygen tubing Oxygen supply with flow regulator • portable or fixed unit Pocket mask with • 1-way valve, O2 inlet and filter Bag-valve-device (self-inflating bag) with • O2 reservoir • PEEP adaptor • adult, child, infant and neonatal masks Oropharyngeal airways • sizes 000 - 5 Nasopharyngeal airways • 14 - 30F Suction devices • bulb syringe • electrical or mechanical Suction catheters • tonsil tip (Yankauer) • flexible (6 - 14F) Laryngoscope handle • spare batteries and globes Laryngoscope blades • straight (no. 0 - 3) • curved (no. 2 - 4) Intubating stylets • 6 - 16F • articulating (Parker) Magill forceps • adult and paediatric Tracheal tubes • uncuffed (sizes 2.5 - 5.5 mm) • cuffed (sizes 3.0 - 8.0 mm) • water-soluble lubricant/KY jelly • syringe (10 ml) Oesophageal detector device • bulb version Exhaled CO2 detector • adult and paediatric Tube holders • adjustable (adult and paediatric) • tape and bite block Laryngeal mask airway • sizes 1 - 5 Needle cricothyrotomy • jet insufflation • retrograde intubation Tracheostomy tubes • sizes 00 - 6 Nasogastric tubes • 5 - 18F Chest tubes • 10 - 40F Circulatory access IV cannulation • butterflies • catheter-over-needle cannulae (14 - 24G) • antiseptic wipes • rubber arm bands • securing tape • arm board • bandaging materials • sharps container Central vein access • 3 - 5F catheters Intraosseous needles • 15 - 18G Umbilical vein catheters • 3.5 - 5F • 5F feeding tube may be used Fluid • • • • • administration sets calibrated chamber (burette) blood administration high-flow set 3-way stopcocks IV fluid/blood warmer IV fluids • normal saline • modified Ringer’s lactate • dextrose water • colloid Sample collection • needles and syringes (1 - 50 ml) • venous blood collection tubes • blood gas collection June 2004 Vol.22 No.6 CME 333 MORE ABOUT Table I. Continued Drugs (NB: Many drugs have multiple indications and emergency uses, but are listed below only once) Cardiac arrest • adrenaline • amiodarone • atropine • bicarbonate • calcium chloride • dextrose • lignocaine • magnesium sulphate Cardiovascular emergencies • adenosine • aspirin (soluble) • clopidogrel • digoxin • diltiazem • dobutamine • dopamine • esmolol • furosemide • isoprenaline • morphine • nitroglycerine (tablet/spray/IV) • potassium • sodium nitroprusside • thrombolytic therapy • verapamil Respiratory emergencies • aminophylline • hydrocortisone • ipratropium bromide • promethazine • salbutamol Rapid sequence intubation • etomidate • ketamine • midazolam • propofol • succinylcholine • rocuronium • vecuronium Neuro-endocrine emergencies • clonazepam • clothiapine • diazepam • glucagon • haloperidol • insulin • lorazepam • • • • • mannitol phenobarbital phenytoin thiamine thiopentone Poisoning antidotes • activated charcoal • antivenom (snake/spider/ scorpion) • acetylcysteine/carbocysteine • biperiden • desferrioxamine • digibind • dimercaprol • flumazenil • ipecac syrup • naloxone • obidoxime • tripac-cyano (amyl nitrite, sodium nitrite, sodium thiosulfate) • vitamin K Paediatric dose chart • Broselow colour-coded tape • scale (infant and adult) Equipment trays Difficult/failed intubation • see Table II Intercostal drain • underwater seal drainage Vascular access • venous cutdown • central line cannulation • catheter exchange set Lumbar puncture • spinal needles (20 - 25G) Urinary catheterisation • Foley catheters (5 - 18F) Maternity pack Newborn kit • scalpel and cord clamps • umbilical vessel cannulation • meconium aspirator • heating source/overhead warmer Fixation devices Spinal immobilisation • cervical collars (adult and paediatric — adjustable) appropriate supporting equipment and techniques. Wherever health care professionals evaluate and treat patients, a legal duty to respond to life-threatening emergencies exists. Many life-threatening emergencies can be aborted if the signs of deterioration are recognised. Hodgetts et al.,2 in a 334 CME June 2004 Vol.22 No.6 • head blocks (adult and paediatric) • spine boards (adult and paediatric) review looking at the incidence, location and reasons for avoidable in-hospital cardiac arrest, found that ‘61.9% of arrests were potentially avoidable. 100% of potentially avoidable arrests were judged to have received inadequate prior treatment.’ • restraining devices (adult and paediatric) • blankets and towel rolls For these reasons international training programmes such as the Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), Paediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS/APLS), Advanced Neonatal Life Support (ANLS/NRP), Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), and the recently introduced Advanced Medical MORE ABOUT Life Support (AMLS) are now being held almost every week throughout South Africa in an effort to raise the standard of practice of emergency care in this country. AMLS was inspired by research into the quality of care provided to patients before admission to intensive care.3 The management of airway, breathing, circulation, oxygen therapy and monitoring in severely ill patients was frequently found to be suboptimal, and the authors called for improved teaching and for the establishment of ‘medical emergency teams’, with the intention of responding to emergencies before the patient arrests, as opposed to ‘cardiac arrest teams’, which are generally only deployed after the patient has arrested! In addition to having the necessary knowledge and training, immediate availability and access to appropriate emergency equipment is inherent to providing proper emergency care. Tables I and II list suggested equipment and medications that responsible clinicians could obtain for their health care facilities. The lists are not intended to be all-inclusive, and the exact content and number of items will depend on the range and number of emergencies likely to be encountered in any specific setting. A further consideration would be the availability of and proximity to additional equipment and more advanced facilities and specialised care. The minimum standard of care should be the ability to manage respiratory and cardiac arrest in all age groups. No single other emergency demands more immediate attention or more precise management. Suggested emergency unit equipment, under the headings of ‘Assessment and monitoring devices’, as well as ‘Circulatory access’, ‘Drugs’, ‘Equipment trays’ and ‘Fixation devices’, which may be required for an impending arrest, is given in Table I. Few emergency situations are more frightening and fraught Table II. Equipment for a ‘difficult intubation trolley’ Device Available sizes Budgetary guide Appropriate mandatory items Bag-valve mask + O2 reservoir + PEEP Suction apparatus Oropharyngeal airways Tracheal tubes Intubating stylets Magill forceps Laryngoscope set Rebreather O2 masks Adult and paediatric Range of catheters Range of sizes Range of sizes Range of sizes Adult and paediatric Range of blades Adult and paediatric Standard Standard Standard Standard Standard Standard Standard Standard Back-up devices Articulating stylet Perilaryngeal airway Streamlined liner of pharynx Gum elastic bougie Hollow tube exchanger Laryngeal tube Cricothyrotomy set Laryngeal mask airway disposable Laryngeal mask airway classic Laryngeal mask airway ProSeal Laryngeal mask airway FasTrach Adult male and female Range of sizes Range of sizes Adult and paediatric Adult and paediatric Range of sizes Adult and paediatric Range of sizes Range of sizes Range of sizes Adult male and female Cheap Cheap Cheap Fair Fair Fair Fair Cheap Fair Fair Expensive Oesophageal-tracheal Combitube Light wand stylet Tru-View laryngoscope Levering Laryngoscope Fibre-optic bronchoscope Adult male and female Adult and paediatric Adult and paediatric Adult Adult Expensive Expensive Expensive Expensive Very expensive Confirmatory and stabilising devices Oesophageal detector device Disposable CO2 detector Tracheal tube holder Cuff pressure gauge Pulse oximeter Capnograph Bulb version Adult and paediatric Adult and paediatric Hand-held Hand-held Hand-held Cheap Cheap Cheap Fair Expensive Expensive June 2004 Vol.22 No.6 CME 335 MORE ABOUT with medico-legal consequences than a difficult or failed intubation. Even in South Africa lawsuits, extending up to R100 million in damages, have been filed in recent months.4 Table II provides a list of proposed mandatory, back-up and confirmatory devices available, together with a budgetary guide, to aid emergency units in establishing formal ‘difficult intubation trolleys’. Space will not allow for full descriptions, but details of these items and available training can be obtained from www.resuscitation council.co.za and www.advancedlifesupport. co.za, and from the ‘Further reading’ list. The presence of emergency equipment must of course always be linked to staff who are adequately trained in its proper use. References available on request. Further reading American Heart Association. Handbook of Emergency Cardiovascular Care for Healthcare Providers. Dallas, Texas: American Heart Association, 2002. (Available from SAMAHMPG. Price R110, members R99.) Kloeck WGJ, ed. A Guide to the Management of Common Medical Emergencies in Adults. 7th ed. Johannesburg: University of the Witwatersrand, 2004. Kloeck WGJ, ed. CPR Alive — Special Algorithm Edition (2004 update). Johannesburg: Resuscitation Council of Southern Africa, 2004. SINGLE SUTURE WATER, SANITATION AND PET FOOD It will take Africa 30 years to achieve the water target of the Millennium Development Goal, and it will never achieve the sanitation target, according to the UK charity, Wateraid. Wateraid cites examples of a 15% increase in Bangladeshi school attendance when water carrying time is reduced, and a 12% increase in school attendance in Tanzania when water is available within 15 minutes, rather than an hour or more away. Studies have also found that 11% more girls attend school when sanitation facilities with proper privacy are available. Halving the number of people without water by 2015 will take $29 billion globally — less than Europe and North America spend on pet food every year. Lancet 2004; 363: 954. 336 CME June 2004 Vol.22 No.6