Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to investigate the demographic characteristics of the events that apply to the Children’s Emergency Service of the University of Çukurova and are considered a judicial case. This investigation was carried out with a retrospective scan of the 2004 case files. In 2004, there were a total of 7,922 applications for child emergency services, 589 (7.4%) cases were considered legal cases. 355 of the cases (60.3%) were men, 227 (38.5%) were girls, and the difference between them was significant (p< 0.001), the average age of the cases was 69.0 ± 45.6 months (low-over value: 1-196 months). The five most common reasons for the application were falling, poisoning or poisoning suspected, traffic accidents, burns, and foreign bodies drowned. The incidents were most frequently in summer, at least in the autumn season and between 16:00 and 24:00. 177 of the cases were dismissed after treatment, 242 (41.1%) were placed in a service, 25 (4.2%) were sent to another hospital because there was no place in the service, 15 (2.5%) on their own wish, 3 (0.5%) were dismissed from the service without informing the hospital staff, 4 (0.7%) were dead in the service, 2 (0.3%) were dead in the emergency service. The majority of cases are due to preventable accidents. It is possible to prevent accidents and it is necessary to provide family and community education for this. It is also required to be registered in each service provided. In particular, the records kept in court cases should be more important.

Keywords: