Patterns of pre hospital fatal injuries in Mekelle, Ethiopia

To assess the pattern of pre hospital fatal injuries and determine the age, sex and types of injury for all victims brought dead to Mekelle hospital

A retrospective descriptive audit of all victims brought dead to Mekelle hospital due to trauma was carried out to assess the magnitude and pattern of pre hospital fatal injuries between September 1, 2004 to Jun. 30, 2006. These include all victims brought dead following road traffic accidents, suicidal, homicidal, drowning, burns and also deaths from other accidental causes. The source and the study group are (N = 120 deaths) involved in accidental injuries. Case notes were obtained from written police reports and medical records office and were analyzed for age, sex and type of injury.

There were 120 deaths caused by fatal accidents before arrival to Mekelle hospital. There were 95 (79.2%) male and 25 (20.8%) female victims. Peak incidence of pre hospital fatal deaths were in the 10-29 year age group accounting for 54.9% of the cases. In the study the median age was 25 years and the range from 4 to 70 years. Road traffic accident was the leading causes of fatal injuries, accounting for 46.6 % of all fatal deaths followed by physical assaults (28.3%), suicidal hanging (10.8%), electrical burns (5.0%) and bullet injuries (4.1%).

Overall this study has shown that pre hospital fatal injuries commonly occurred in the younger age group. Majority were caused by road traffic accidents with males predominantly affected