Trends In Firearm Injuries Related To Accidental Causes: A Study.

Gunshot wounds are the second leading cause of death after road traffic accidents within young population in many countries which is the most productive section of the society. This study describes demographics, causative factors, intent, incident locations of firearm injuries and gun-related activities in which patients were engaged at the time of injury among patients treated in hospital emergency departments for unintentional firearm-related injuries. It is a prospective study conducted over a period of 1 year i.e. May 1, 2007 to April 31, 2008 and all the cases of Gunshot Injuries (GSI) that presented to the casualty department of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College & Hospital (JNMCH), Aligarh, INDIA were analysed. The information of the cases was obtained from casualty records, history and examination of patient and photograph of the patient's wounds. Parameters studied are age, sex, site of wounds, weapon used, circumstances leading to injury and shot by whom. A total of 198 cases of firearm related injuries reported and 50 were found to be due to unintentional causes. These injuries are most common in children (28%) and most common cause was ceremonial firing (40%). Head and neck region is most commonly affected (34%) followed by trunk (30%). Most frequently used weapon is shotgun (50%). Firearm injuries are one of the emerging causes of unintentional injuries to children and youth. This study suggests that efforts should be made to limit unsupervised access to firearms, to promote safe storage of firearm and apart from strict licensing law, medical assessment is recommended.

Developing and maintaining website of department of forensic medicine and toxicology: a need of the hour.

With recent advancement of civilization, man has been inventing various tools to assist him in living in the changed environment. Online Medical Education System has now become reality. Developing and maintaining website of Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology by every medical college is the need of the hour. Developing and maintaining a website is not a difficult task for any department irrespective of the status of the institution. The financial burden is not very much. What makes this task so difficult is the lack of knowledge in this area rather than hurdles on the way. Authors have tried to clarify the various doubts regarding this area i.e. how the website can be developed, the financial burden to register a website, website maintainence, role of on-line medical education, undergraduate and postgraduate students benefits by the website, website use to associate different departments and institutions, obtaining updated information via Internet and other websites, the security issues while sharing the information as well as updating. It is envisaged that whence the departments develop their website, they may be affiliated to IAFM website for their greater visibility.

Decay in intact DNA recovery in blood samples kept at room temperature.

Blood Samples were kept at room temperature for a period of 3-6 months at room temperature to know the amount of quantitative DeoxyriboNucleic Acid [DNA] recovery from these samples. We are able to recover good amount of DNA for about first 3-6 weeks after which the DNA is decreased drastically and after two months there hardly any chance of intact DNA recovery from these samples. It has been concluded that blood samples recovered from scene of crime after about 1-2 months is a waste. The samples must be recovered as early as possible to recover intact DNA from them. The samples must be collected within 1-2 months from scene of crime until and unless the climate is cold enough to increases decay time. This study is very useful for the investigating authorities which can make errors while collecting blood samples for DNA analysis.