Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41631235›Full record

ArticleAfrican journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence2025

Prehospital emergency response and management of pregnancy-associated haemorrhage in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study.

S Govender, O P Khaliq, T Abel, J Moodley

Abstract read
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Article in African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

S GovenderKwaZulu-Natal College of Emergency Care, Durban, South Africa.
O P KhaliqDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
T AbelDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, School of Clinical Medicine, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
J MoodleyWomen's Health and HIV Research Group, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, School of Clinical Medicine, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Pregnancy-associated haemorrhage (PAH) is a leading contributor to maternal mortality in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and the fourth most common cause in South Africa. Delays in treating PAH increase maternal mortality; prompt prehospital response is therefore critical to improve outcomes. The aim of this study was to analyse response times and clinical management of PAH by public sector Emergency Care Providers in KZN, looking specifically at postpartum haemorrhage (PPH). Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in two phases. Phase 1 involved analysis of emergency call centre records (n = 4779) assessing response time patterns. Phase 2 analysed randomly selected PPH cases (n = 61) to assess clinical management practices. Descriptive statistics summarised demographics, response patterns, and clinical practice, Pearson correlation examined the relationships between time variables, and chi-square tests assessed associations between clinical variables (p < 0.05). Results: More than half (51.5 %) of PAH cases had ambulance response times >60 min. Median pre-response time was 30 min; overall response time was 63.5 min but both were positively skewed by extreme delays, with higher trimmed means(50.9 min and 85.7 min respectively). Most cases (81.6 %, n = 3899) were transported from primary healthcare facilities to hospitals, with Intermediate Life Support Providers managing 75.7 % of the cases. In the sampled PPH patients, compliance with vital signs monitoring was initially high (91.8 %) but declined in transit (42.6 %). Providers were largely non-compliant in documenting blood loss and patient history. Despite almost all patients showing clinical signs of shock 44.3 % of PPH cases received no intravenous fluids. Conclusion: Significant time delays in EMS response and inconsistencies in PAH clinical management by EMS providers were identified. Improved resource allocation, focused training and adherence to clinical and departmental guidelines are vital to strengthening maternal emergency care in KZN.

Indexed as

Emergency care providersEmergency medical servicesKwaZulu-Natal ProvinceMaternal mortality, Prehospital carePregnancy-associated haemorrhage

Identifiers

PMID41631235
PMCPMC12861671

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.