Basic EFAR training needs assessment and curriculum design
| Module | Needs assessment | Curriculum design |
| (1) Emergency scene management | Interviewees reported emergency incidents as usually chaotic with mass confusion. In addition to untrained individuals attempting to help, there are frequently a number of people panicking and people attempting to exploit the patient—such as robbery, taking pictures, or blackmailing. Also, knowledge of emergency phone numbers was extremely low. | Responsibilities of an ‘emergency first aid responder’, scene safety and control (SAF-T), calling for help/ambulance, mass casualty incidents, overview of ABCs. Extrication methods were excluded. |
| (2) Unconscious patients | Choking and unconsciousness were a frequent occurrence. Drowning cases were minimal. | Shock, choking, lay-person CPR, recovery position. There was both a lecture and a practical section. |
| (3) Violent injuries | Gunshots, stabs and traffic accidents are rampant in Manenberg and are the most recognised emergencies. Community members almost universally identified both drugs and gangs as the main causes of all traumatic injuries. | Handling trauma patients, spinal management, bleeding control (DeEP), bandaging burns and bloody wounds, evisceration, impalement, amputations, splinting. There was a lecture, a practical and a case study section. |
| (4) Medical emergencies | Interviewees reported drug and alcohol abuse, seizures, diabetic shock, heart attacks and stroke as the most prevalent medical emergencies. Anaphylactic shock, animal attacks/bites/stings, hypothermia and hyperthermia were reported as minimal. Midwives are readily available in the area, and so infant delivery was not included. | Drug and alcohol overdose, seizures, diabetes, dehydration, heart attacks, stroke, abdominal pain and shortness of breath. |
CPR, cardiopulmonary resuscitation; EFAR, emergency first aid responder.