TY - JOUR PY - 2009// TI - A study of fatal electrical injuries in Smolyan District, Republic of Bulgaria JO - Anil Aggrawal's internet journal of forensic medicine and toxicology A1 - Dokov, W. A1 - Baltov, M. SP - EP - VL - 10 IS - 2 N2 - INTRODUCTION: Deaths due to electrical injuries occurs very rarely and has not been studied sufficiently. This study was prompted by the fact that no regional research had been done in that field.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize and analyze some factors leading to fatal accidents due to electrocution in Smolyan District. Material and methods: We studied the forensic documentation of 35 cases of electrical injuries autopsied in the Forensic Medicine Ward at the Multiprofile hospital for active treatment of Smolyan during the period 1985-2007. The results obtained were subjected to descriptive analysis using the software SPSS 11.0. Values of ? <0.05 were assumed to be statistically reliable.

RESULTS: The cases were distributed quite unevenly over the 24-year-long period. For the period under study, an average of 1.46 per year died from electrocution, which makes 0.94 electrocution mortality per 100,000 population per year on average. In the studied sample, the relative share of males is 85.71%, and of females 14.29 %. Of all cases under study, children and adolescents from 0 to 17 years of age occupy 17.14 %. The average age of the deceased is 32.95, or 32.98 for males and 32,8 for females respectively, and depending on the voltage which caused the death, 48.57% fell victims to low voltage, and 18% to high. Domestic electrotraumatism accounts for 52.94%, and workplace for 34.29%. Suicide by electrocution was found in 1 (2.86%) case. No homicides by electrocution were found in the material under study. For the studied period, 60 % of all observed cases died during the typically summer months (June-September).

CONCLUSION: The relative share of males prevails over females, and most victims die in work-active age. Depending on the voltage of the electric current which caused the death, the difference in the relative share of victims of low of high voltage is insignificant. There is no considerable difference in the relative share of the cases who died as a result of domestic or work-place electrotraumatism as well. Suicides in our material are very rare, and we did not observe a homicide by electrocution. A clear seasonality is registered in electrotraumas with a peak in the summer months of the year.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0972-8066 UR - http://dx.doi.org/ ID - ref1 ER -