Médecine tropicale : revue du Corps de santé colonial
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The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the profile of medical emergencies and their management in a university hospital center in a tropical area. Between July 1 and December 31, 2001, all patients examined in a medical and surgical emergency room were included. Obstetrical emergencies, pediatric emergencies, emergencies admitted directly to the cardiology, ORL emergencies and urologic emergencies were not included. ⋯ Gastrointestinal events accounted for 20.23% of cases, cardiovascular events for 9.12%, respiratory events of 8.56%, metabolic events for 1.78%, trauma for 48.20% and infectious disease for 12.09%. Surgical mortality was 2.41%. Most problems facing the intensivist treating medical emergencies in a tropical setting involved resuscitation.
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Comparative Study
[Emergency care in tropical areas: status report based on surgical emergencies in Senegal].
Management of surgical emergencies in Senegal is characterized by a mismatch between supply of facilities and demand for care. The situation has been complicated by runaway urban growth. Two situations can be distinguished in rural zones and in the major city of Dakar. ⋯ The main differences between urban and rural areas involve the volume and type of surgical emergencies with a constantly increasing number of trauma emergencies in cities. Solving these problems will require a specific national plan to develop emergency care services in general. This plan will require coordination of funding, re-organisation of hospital facilities, and hiring and training of qualified personnel (surgeons and paramedical staff).
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Governmental humanitarian action is an old concept in France, that is a topic of current interest. To conduct humanitarian action, the French government has deployed various facilities. The military biological risk team was established to control epidemics, provide expertise during epidemiological emergencies, and conduct mass vaccination programs. The author describe the missions carried out by the biological risk team during the 1990s as an illustration of governmental humanitarian action.
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The main goal of emergency medicine training is to teach the wide range of sciences and skills necessary to recognize and stabilize emergency situations. Emergency medicine training has proven highly effective in developed countries especially with regard to organization of survival medicine. This type of training is especially important in sub-Saharan Africa where there is a severe shortage of intensive care specialists and an almost total lack of other personnel qualified to manage life-threatening trauma and disease. ⋯ Students undergo regular assessment of their scientific knowledge and practical competencies after each module. As additional prerequisites for the diploma, they must be certified in first aid and rescue and present a research paper. Despite the lack of faculty and teaching materials, this program is expected to increase the number of emergency medical care providers and improve access to high-quality emergency care services.
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Over a 10-year period, a series 96 patients were treated for laryngotracheal and bronchial foreign bodies in the ENT department of the Ouagadougou University Hospital Center (Burkina Faso). The purpose of this study was to analyze the epidemioclinical features and therapeutic pitfalls encountered in that series and to propose measures to improve management. The age of patients ranged from 10 months to 14 years. ⋯ Tracheostomy was performed in 10.4% of cases mainly in patients with foreign bodies located in larynx. One patient died during extraction. In addition to providing more information and education on prevention of laryngotracheal and bronchial foreign bodies, better management requires better training of medical personnel and improvement of technical facilities.