The role and significance of 112 emergency health services in treatment and guidance in mass food poisoning cases

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: 112 emergency health services send the same types of cases to different hospitals and receive the first information, have a comprehensive knowledge on these cases and inform all the hospitals simultaneously. AIM: In this study, our aim is to share with the literature through anticholinergic food poisoning cases that it is possible to prevent delays in examination and treatment and to prevent information pollution when 112 emergency health services. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 213 mass food poisoning cases which occurred between December 1 and 7, 2019 and which were taken to 14 hospitals with 112 emergency health services. File information of 69 of these cases were reached; in addition to demographic characteristics such as age and gender, physical examination findings such as blood pressure, pulse, skin-eye and consciousness states, laboratory values, hospitalization times, in which units the cases were followed and the duration of admission to the hospital after meals were noted. RESULTS: Of the 69 cases, 42 were found to have skin findings, 37 were found to have mydriasis and 12 were found to have agitation and/or confusion. The duration of admission to hospital after meal was found as 6.5 (4.5–10.0) hours. 60 (87.0%) of the patients were followed in the emergency room, 4 (5.8%) were followed in the internal medicine service and 5 (7.2%) were followed in the intensive care. CONCLUSIONS: When the crisis team of 112 emergency health services is alert, they can categorize the event, prevent the chaos in the emergency service of hospitals with correct triage and thus with the process of understanding the event, examination and treatment process becomes more executable.