title: Road traffic accident related morbidity as seen in an accident and emergency department.
abstract: This paper describes some of the findings of a prospective study of victims of road traffic accidents arriving at the Western Infirmary's Accident and Emergency Department over a period of 12 months. More than half the accidents occurred during leisure hours thus likely to stretch the resource of the hospital services. More than a third of the total number of patients were young male drivers. Serious injuries were significantly more often sustained among pedestrians who were often older. Victims of motor-cycle accidents less often escaped serious injuries. Blood ethanol studies on a small sample suggested that male pedestrians were often highly intoxicated. A public health education programme is regarded as a primary measure in preventing a large proportion of serious morbidity and mortality especially amongst pedestrians.
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000328:Adult; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012606:Scotland; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol