Keywords
Forensic Case
healthcare
Abstract
Objective: This study was conducted to examine the characteristics of forensic cases encountered in the emergency department between 2019 and 2024 and the practices of healthcare professionals regarding the management of forensic cases.
Methods: The study was conducted on healthcare professionals (n=64) working in the Adult Emergency Department of Manisa Celal Bayar University Hafsa Sultan Faculty of Medicine Hospital. The data for the study were collected using a 16-question “Healthcare professional knowledge and forensic case management practices questionnaire.” Unit records were retrospectively reviewed to evaluate forensic cases that were referred to the emergency department between 2019 and 2024.
Results: The average age of healthcare workers was 29.05±5.43 (min-max: 23-45 years), with 45.3% being physicians, 37.5% nurses, and 17.2% paramedics. A total of 59.4% of the participants reported encountering seven or more forensic cases per day, while 56.3% indicated that they had not received any formal training in forensic case management. When looking at their practices regarding forensic case management, 85.9% of participants stated that they took care not to tear the clothing, 92.2% stated that they handed over the clothing to hospital police or security personnel, and 96.9% stated that they handed over any items found in the clothing pockets to law enforcement. Between 2019 and 2024, of the total 41,606 forensic cases that applied to the institution’s emergency department, 62.77% (n=25,911) were work accidents, followed by traffic accidents with a rate of 19.82% (n=8,248) were traffic accidents, and 12.33% (n=5,138) were assault cases....
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