South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde
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Initial management of acute poisoning in South African (SA) hospitals such as gastric decontamination and use of antidotes has not been evaluated relevant to current international guidelines. ⋯ This study has identified the need for directed training on gastric decontamination measures and use of antidotes and, combined with the previous study, has identified national trends in poisoning.
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A large private operating theatre complex was investigated to address the lack of published South African benchmarks for utilisation. All major theatres were staffed during normal working hours (07h00 - 19h00), emergency cases being provided for on an ad hoc basis through spare capacity. ⋯ The 48% utilisation observed was significantly lower than the global benchmark of between 70% and 80%.
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Multicenter Study
Vital signs for children at triage: a multicentre validation of the revised South African Triage Scale (SATS) for children.
To validate a revised version of the paediatric South African Triage Scale (SATS) against admission as a reference standard and compare the sensitivity of triage using: (i) clinical discriminators; (ii) an age-appropriate physiological composite score; and (iii) a combination of both. ⋯ The results of this study illustrate that the revised paediatric SATS is a safe and robust triage tool.