Most fatal poisonings occur outside the hospital and the victims found dead. The purpose of this study was to determine the general pattern and patient demographics of fatal poisonings in Northern Finland. In particular, we wanted to analyze differences between pre-hospital and in-hospital deaths.
All fatal poisonings that occurred in Northern Finland in 2007-2011 were retrieved from the Cause of Death Registry provided by Statistics Finland. We noted the patient demographics, causal agents, and other characteristics of the poisoning events.
A total of 689 fatal poisonings occurred during the study period, of which only 42 (6.1%) reached the hospital alive. Those who died pre-hospital were significantly younger (50 vs. 56 years, p = 0.04) and more likely to be male (77% vs. 57%, p = 0.003). Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was attempted less often in pre-hospital cases (9.9% vs. 47.6%, p
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Cites: Lancet. 2009 Jun 27;373(9682):2234-4619560605