Original Research

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation practices amid COVID-19 in four Gauteng public hospitals

Almien Smit, Andreas Engelbrecht, Suma Rajan
Journal of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa | Vol 3, No 1 | a130 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/jcmsa.v3i1.130 | © 2025 Almien Smit, Andreas Engelbrecht, Suma Rajan | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 16 September 2024 | Published: 27 January 2025

About the author(s)

Almien Smit, Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital, Ekurhuleni, South Africa
Andreas Engelbrecht, Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Emergency Medicine, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Suma Rajan, Department of Emergency Medicine, Letterkenny University Hospital, Galway, Ireland

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic challenged healthcare systems worldwide. Owing to the transmission with aerosol-generating procedures, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) practices were changed. Little is known about the adherence and/or uptake of these guidelines by healthcare workers (HCWs) in lower-middle income countries. This study seeks to describe the CPR practices among HCWs in South Africa.

Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study used purposeful and snowball sampling to recruit 131 participants. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics.

Results: A total of 131 responses were received. Of the respondents, 72.9% reported performing CPR on COVID-19-positive patients. Frequent breaches in personal protective equipment (PPE) (p < 0.001) and reuse of PPE (p < 0.001) were reported. Most respondents reported being aware of specific guidelines for CPR in COVID-19. Among the 53.4% of respondents who had tested positive for COVID-19, 79.7% reported occupational exposure. Of these respondents, 47.3% reported symptom onset within 5 days of performing CPR on a COVID-19-positive patient.

Conclusion: HCWs often put the needs of patients above their own. The study found that despite respondents being aware of guidelines for CPR in COVID-19, compliance with guidelines was reported to be poor. Of particular concern is that a high number of respondents who tested positive for COVID-19 reported symptom onset within 5 days of performing CPR on COVID-19-positive patients.

Contribution: This research will assist in the training of HCWs on appropriate CPR practices to prevent transmission of respiratory infections transmitted via droplet and airborne routes.


Keywords

CPR practices; COVID-19; aerosolizing procedures; resuscitation, lower-middle-income countries, personal protective equipment.

Sustainable Development Goal

Goal 3: Good health and well-being

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