Evaluation of forensic cases presented to emergency department of the Hospital of Firat University Medicine School

ABSTRACTEVALUATION OF FORENSIC CASES PRESENTED TO EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT OF THE HOSPITAL OF FIRAT UNIVERSITY MEDICINE SCHOOLThe event that occurs as a result of extrinsic factors and causes disruption of physical and mental health of individuals or death is considered as a forensic case. Emergency medicine physicians have important responsibilities such as physical examination, identification of traumatic lesion and preparation of forensic reports in the forensic cases as well as treating emergent cases.The present study was conducted by retrospectively reviewing 5587 forensic cases presented to Emergency Department of The Hospital of Fırat University Medicine School between 1 January, 2010 and 31 December, 2011. A data sheet was designed for data extraction. The data sheet covered the following information: file number, date, age, gender, type of forensic case, duration of presentation, injured body region if it is a trauma case, agent that cause intoxication and the route of intake if it is intoxication case, method if it is a suicide case, duration of emergency department admission, consultations ordered and the clinics admitted.Forensic case comprised 5.5% of all emergency visits. Of the cases, 70.4% were men and 29.6% were women. The highest proportion of forensic cases was found to be in the age group of 21-30 by 24.7% (n=1181). It was found that the highest number of forensic case was presented at June-July-August by 33.6%. Traffic collision was the leading cause among forensic cases by 30%.In conclusion, accurate and uniform recordings of forensic cases are important in the subsequent forensic process regarding safety of clinician and prevention of patient?s grievance. By enabling the measurable and interpretable of the care provided, it can be possible to understand the level of quality of care in the facilities giving emergency care.Keywords: Forensic case, emergency department, demographic