Procedural Sedation in the Emergency Centre (Guidelines) (Report‪)‬

Introduction A proportion of patients presenting to emergency centres need to undergo procedures that can be unpleasant and painful. The provision of safe and effective analgesia and procedural sedation is a critical aspect of the provision of care in an emergency centre. Given the nature of an emergency centre, which is often overwhelming and noisy and appears chaotic to patients, the entire clinical experience for the patient and ultimately outcome can be improved if appropriate and effective procedural sedation is provided. The Emergency Medicine Society of South Africa (EMSSA) recognised the lack of uniformity on this topic (1) and set up an expert panel responsible for the drafting of this practice guideline.