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BACKGROUND: The emergency department of Embhuleni Hospital frequently manages patients with glass-related injuries. This study assessed these injuries and the glass that caused them in more detail. AIM: The objectives of our study included determining the type of glass causing these injuries and describing the circumstances associated with different types of glass injuries. SETTING: The emergency department of Embhuleni Hospital in Elukwatini, Mpumalanga province, South Africa. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study with a sample size of 104 patients. Descriptive statistics were used to assess the characteristics of the glass injuries. RESULTS: Five different types of glass were reported to have caused the injuries, namely car glass (7.69%), glass ampoules (3.85%), glass bottles (82.69%), glass windows (3.85%) and street glass shards (1.92%). Glass bottle injuries were mainly caused by assaults (90.47%) and most victims were mostly young males (80.23%). The assaults occurred at alcohol-licensed premises in 65.11% of cases. These injuries occurred mostly over weekends (83.72%), between18:00 and 04:00. The face (34.23%) and the scalp (26.84%) were the sites that were injured most often. CONCLUSION: Assault is the most common cause of glass injuries, usually involving young men at alcohol-licensed premises. Glass injuries generally resulted in minor lacerations, with few complications (2.68%. CONTEXTE: Le service des urgences de l'hôpital Embhuleni traite souvent des patients blessés par des éclats de verre. Cette étude a examiné en détail ces blessures et le verre qui les a causes. OBJECTIF: Notre étude avait pour but de déterminer le type de verre qui avait causé ces blessures et de décrire les circonstances des différents types de blessures causées par du verre. LIEU: Le service des urgences à l'hôpital Embhuleni à Elukwatini, dans la province du Mpumalanga, en Afrique du Sud. MÉTHODES: C'est une étude transversale avec un échantillonnage de 104 patients. On a utilisé des statistiques descriptives pour évaluer les caractéristiques des blessures causées par le verre. RÉSULTATS: Les blessures ont été causées par différents types de verre, à savoir du verre automobile (7.69%), du verre d'ampoules (3.85%), du verre de bouteille (82.69%), du verre de vitre (3.85%) et des éclats de verre dans la rue (1.92%). Les blessures causées par du verre de bouteille provenaient surtout d'agressions (90.47%) et la plupart des victimes étaient des jeunes hommes (80.23%). Les agressions avaient eu lieu dans des locaux autorisés à servir de l'alcool dans 65.11% des cas. Ces blessures ont eu lieu surtout pendant le weekend (83.72%), entre 18h00 et 04h00. Les blessures étaient le plus souvent au visage (34.23%) et au cuir chevelu (26.84%). CONCLUSION: Les agressions sont la cause la plus fréquente des blessures causées par du verre et impliquent en général des jeunes hommes dans des locaux autorisés à servir de l'alcool. Les blessures causées par du verre étaient en général des lacérations mineures avec peu de complications (2.68%).

Sudden cardiac death is the most common cause of unnatural death in football. To prevent and urgently manage sudden cardiac arrest on the football field-of-play, F-MARC (FIFA Medical and Research Centre) has been fully committed to a programme of research, education, standardisation and practical implementation. This strategy has detected football players at medical risk during mandatory precompetition medical assessments. Additionally, FIFA has (1) sponsored internationally accepted guidelines for the interpretation of an athlete's ECG, (2) developed field-of-play-specific protocols for the recognition, response, resuscitation and removal of a football player having sudden cardiac arrest and (3) introduced and distributed the FIFA medical emergency bag which has already resulted in the successful resuscitation of a football player who had a sudden cardiac arrest on the field-of-play. Recently FIFA, in association with the Institute of Sports and Preventive Medicine in Saarbrucken, Germany, established a worldwide Sudden Death Registry with a view to documenting fatal events on the football field-of-play. These activities by F-MARC are testimony to FIFA's continued commitment to minimising sudden cardiac arrest while playing football.