South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde
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Nitrates and nitrites are widely used in the food and chemical industry. Poisoning with these agents may be potentially life-threatening as a result of the production of methaemoglobin. ⋯ One patient died but the other 9 recovered rapidly. The low mortality rate was attributed to prompt diagnosis and institution of appropriate therapy with methylene blue and ascorbic acid.
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Successful management of a cardiac arrest demands immediate and appropriate action. Numerous different techniques for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) have been described, resulting in confusion among health care providers with respect to the use of different methods under different circumstances. ⋯ The Heart Foundation of Southern Africa, in recognising this need, organised this country's first National Basic CPR Symposium, followed by a National Workshop where official representatives of major CPR-promoting organisations critically analysed and reviewed contentious issues in basic CPR with a view to providing national guidelines. It was unanimously agreed that the recommendations of the National Workshop, as reported here, would stand as the consensus of opinion of the 33 major CPR-promoting organisations in this country.