Australasian College of Paramedicine International Conference (ACPIC 2022)

ACPIC 2022 delivered a wide range of clinical and research sessions from experts and leaders in paramedicine. Hosted in Brisbane (September 2022) the program was designed to inspire, educate and broaden horizons.

Conference theme: Embracing Strengths | Shaping Futures

The burden of mental health cases and Deliberate Self-Harm presentations for South African prehospital emergency medical care providers

Deliberate Self-Harm (DSH) is indicative of a rise in poor mental health. Globally there is one suicide every forty seconds. The aim was to appraise the burden of DSH, attempted suicide and suicide cases for an EMS using a 3-year census of a district EMS Incident Management Records (IMR). 2976 (N) IMR that met the inclusion criteria, 61% (n = 1817) were regarded to have DSH. Overdose accounted for 52% of cases. Attempted Suicide/Suicide accounted 5.8% of cases. The expected odds a male committing suicide were five times higher while for a female overdose were 2.8 times higher. Poor socio-economic and systemic deficiencies health services provide a milieu for poor mental health outcomes.

Biography: Lloyd Christopher

Lloyd is the HOD of Emergency Medical Sciences at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, where they currently offer a range of undergraduate and post graduate qualifications in Emergency Medical Care. Lloyd qualified as a paramedic in 1989 and is currently enrolled in doctoral study on quality in EMS. Lloyd has extensive experience in EMS education and training as well as EMS operations. He was previously the Chairperson of the Professional Board for Emergency Care at the Health Professions Council of South Africa, and is currently serving his second term on the Board.

Moderated by: Clare Sutton, Senior Lecturer, Paramedicine, Charles Sturt University