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Background Cardiac arrests may occur anytime, anywhere and to anyone including learners at schools. Teachers have a moral obligation to care for learners while on the school premises. Outcomes after cardiac arrest are better when the first-responder possesses adequate knowledge and skill in basic life support (BLS) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of student-teachers pertaining to BLS. Methods This was a self-administered, questionnaire based, prospective and cross-sectional study of senior undergraduate student-teachers enrolled at a South African university. The study was conducted between 04 November 2017 and 18 February 2018. Results A total of 316 student-teachers, with a mean age of 21.8 ± 2.6 years completed the survey. Trauma-related emergencies, allergic reactions and breathing difficulties were witnessed during practice teaching sessions at various schools by 52.5% (n = 166), 36.4% (n = 115) and 32.9% (n = 104) of participants, respectively. The mean knowledge score pertaining to BLS was 4.0 ± 1.7 out of 12 points. Previous CPR training was associated with a good knowledge score (p = 0.005) and confidence in responding to an emergency (p = 0.005). Most of the participants (N = 288, 91.1%) had no formal training in CPR with more than three-quarters (76.4%) of them not knowing where to acquire training. Barriers to initiating CPR included fear of litigation (n = 264, 83.5%), injury to the victim (n = 238, 75.3%), presence of blood, vomitus or secretions (n = 206, 65.2%) and fear of contracting a disease (n = 186, 58.8%). Most (n = 255, 80.7%) respondents reported that they would perform CPR on a learner at school. Conclusion Student-teachers surveyed in this study displayed poor knowledge and perceptions but positive attitudes with regards to the practice of CPR and BLS. Consideration should be given to including formal CPR training as part of the curriculum for teachers in training.

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Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the disease it causes, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has spread rapidly across the globe resulting in more than 7,000,000 cases and 400,000 deaths worldwide, of which 52,991 cases and 1162 deaths have occurred in South Africa. Objective: To describe the clinical characteristics of the first 100 patients with COVID-19 admitted to a tertiary hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa. Methods: We conducted a single-centre retrospective review of the first 100 patients with reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction-confirmed COVID-19 infection admitted to a tertiary academic hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa. Results: The 100 patients were predominantly male (53%), of black ethnicity (79%) and had a median age of 42 years. The most common comorbidities were hypertension (31%), diabetes mellitus (18%) and 47% of the patients had an endomorphic phenotype. Eleven per cent (11%) of our patients were HIV positive. During hospitalisation, 14 patients (14%) required admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). For those patients with an outcome available, the overall mortality rate was 10% (n = 6), and 57% (n = 4/7) for those admitted to the ICU. Mean length of stay for those who had died or had been discharged was 6.8 days. Conclusion: This case series describes clinical characteristics in the first 100 patients with confirmed COVID-19 admitted to a large centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. Our findings are concordant with universally reported data; however, more data is needed on COVID-19 in the South African setting, specifically related to tuberculosis and HIV.

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