Analysis of Patients Injured During the Local Elections in Sanliurfa Province

Objectives: Criminal cases constitute a significant part of the patients referred to the emergency department. In this study, we aimed to analysis the cases who admitted to our emergency department resulted in judicial incidents due to the local elections in the surrounding of Sanliurfa. Methods: Cases referred to the Emergency Department due to injuries obtained during the local elections held on March 29, 2009 were included in the study. Computer records, hospital treatment order books, judicial records, and autopsy reports were examined. Results: In total, 126 people injured during the local elections between March 29, 2009 and March 30, 2009 were referred to the Emergency Department of the Education and Research Hospital, Sanliurfa. The Hospital Disaster Plan was activated, and triage was performed. Of the 126 patients, 119 (94.4%) were male, and 7 (5.6%) were female; the average age was 37 years. The most frequent cause of injury was beating, and deaths were mostly due to cranial trauma caused by firearm injuries. After first evaluation and treatment in the emergency department, of the 98 (77.7%) were discharged, 28 (22.3%) were hospitalized, and 6 died. Conclusions: In the present study, our objective was to draw attention to the criminal incidents resulted from mass casualities in the districts of Sanliurfa and its villages and management of those cases in our emergency department.