Electrocution and complications

Electrical injuries is one of the major causes of death annually. Electrical injuries happens when the body is a part of electrical circuit and consequently broad symptoms are revealed. Agents like voltage, amperage, type and pathway of current [direct or alternative], tissue resistance and passage time are important factors in severity of these injuries. The result of such injuries may be: paralysis, syncope, bone fractures, electrical burns, injuries due to falling down, renal failure, and at last death. The researches has shown that alternative current, humidity and anxiety increases the risk of electrical fatalities. At Autopsy there are no definite sign of death due to electrocution but some things such as presence of electrical mark, visceral petechia and congestion and some histological findings [epidermal cell elongation with nuclei oriented horizontally stretched] may help to find out the cause of death To prevent such injuries one must be concerned about safety of electrical devices specially at high risk places like bathroom [because of the presence of vapor and water] If the victim's life is saved checking vital signs, usage of broad spectrum antibiotics and other drugs to relieve pain and amendment of wounds, long time physical therapy may be useful in improvement the function of injured part of the body. If we know how dangerous Electrical injuries can be and know about agents that take part in the severity of injuries we can prevent it by making safe environment with proper preventive programs and treatment plans in such cases we can reduce mortality of electrical injuries

Report about replantation of three amputated fingers caused by an occupational accident and study of determining the compensation from legal physician's point of view

Digit amputation is a physical and psychological trauma that can influence the daily living of a person. In the past 200 years, successful replantation of amputated digits has gradually moved from fantasy to reality. Now a days modern replantation is available in most large hospitals. In recent 40 years ago thousands of severed part of body of subjects have been reattached to themselves, preserving the quality of life for thousands of patients through improved function and appearance that the void remaining after amputation cannot provide. The legal aspects of determining the compensation for such patients is one of the interesting subjects of legal medicine. The patient is a 28 y/o man who was hurt while working in a factory near Tehran, on 16 July 2005, his left thumb, index and middle fingers zone 2 were totally amputated avulsion with local crush. The patient successfully treated by an experienced surgeon, his fingers was replanted and almost 50% of his ability was recovered. One year after accident, he was referred to Legal Medicine Organization for determining the compensation [Dieh and Arsh]. Considering the case, the Islamic Punishment Law has no predict for treatment charges and it seems which insurance companies must compensate the treatment costs of such patients

evaluation of the degree of occupational stress and factors influencing it in forensic physicians working in Legal Medicine Organization in Tehran - autumn of 2005

Job stress is defined as inconsistency between occupational demands and individual abilities, capabilities, and wishes. Job stress leads to different physical, mental, and behavioral outcomes and complications. Physicians who work in legal medicine organization, due to the nature and characteristics of their job, confront with various stressors. This study has been designed in order to identify the frequency of job stress in physicians working in Tehran Legal Medicine Organization. In a cross-sectional tudy, in the autumn of 2005 we identified the frequency of job stress in physicians working in Tehran Legal Medicine Organization. For measuring the degree of stress, we used Osipow questionnaire, and for analysis of gathered data, we used SPSS [Ver. 11.5]. In order to find the relationship between variables and degree of stress, T-test was used. In all statistical analysis, type one error was considered 0.05. Out of 110 physicians working in forensic medicine organization who fulfilled inclusion criteria, 81 persons answered to the questionnaire [degree of responsiveness: 74%]. The greatest mean of stress or was related to role ambiguity [28.2%] and responsibility [26.9%]. The rate of stress was more frequent in older than younger persons, and also it was more frequent in specialists and those with more duration of employment than general physicians and those with less duration of employment. Men also suffered more stress than women; and these results were statistically significant. Questionnaire reliability was tested by Cronbach'a and was 0.83. As mentioned the most frequent stressors were role ambiguity and responsibility, so it is recommended that in order to reduce stress, occupational duties of physicians become more obvious and the organization introduces more information to them and support them more properly