[Quality assurance of emergency medical work]. / Kvalitetssikring av legevaktarbeid.

Patients attending a casualty department often have diseases or injuries needing urgent medical attention. Early and correct diagnosis and treatment may be of major importance for the medical outcome. The continuity of staff is often low, with many doctors and nurses working part time. This may represent a threat to the quality of the medical work. Quality assurance at a casualty department through good training, introduction of written rules, a good flow of information to the staff and local licensing of doctors are factors which can assure that the quality of the medical service remains the best. This paper presents the work done at The Tromsø Municipal Casualty Department to assure the quality of the medical service to the population.

[Air pollution, eczema and asthma in Sør-Varanger. Is the high consumption of corticosteroid ointments caused by increased tendency for eczema?]. / Luftforurensning, eksem og astma i Sør-Varanger. Skyldes høyt forbruk av kortikosteroidsalver øket eksemtendens?

Many investigations suggest that a high degree of air-borne pollution increases the prevalence of diseases like asthma and eczema. Sør-Varanger Municipality in Finnmark County in the north of Norway receives much air-borne pollution from domestic industry and from the metallurgic industry on the Kola peninsula in North-Western Russia. We have investigated indirect parameters of morbidity caused by asthma and eczema by analyzing data on drug consumption and hospital admissions. In Sør-Varanger there is high consumption of corticosteroids for dermatological use. Consumption of anti-asthmatic drugs and number of admissions to hospital for asthma and eczema were no higher than expected. We suspect that air-borne pollution, particularly the heavy metal nickel, increases the prevalence and perhaps worsens the degree of eczema in Sør-Varanger.

[Cancer in Pasvik. II. Pollution from Nikel--no relationship after all?]. / Kreft i Pasvik. II. Forurensning fra Nikel--ingen sammenheng likevel?

Previous medical investigations have indicated a connection between heavy metal pollution from the metallurgical industry in the Russian town of Nikel on the Kola peninsula and an observed increase of incidence of cancer among the Norwegian population living near the Russian border. This report contains the latest measurements of heavy metals in the local environment and discusses exposure levels in relation to possible health effects. It is concluded that exposure to heavy metals via food, water and air is considered so low as to be unlikely to cause any increase in incidence of cancer. Thus, the previously held hypothesis of a connection between heavy metal pollution from Nikel and cancer in Pasvik is not confirmed.

[Cancer in Pasvik. Pollution from Nikeli. A connection?]. / Kreft i Pasvik. Forurensning fra Nikeli. En sammenheng?

The Pasvik valley in Eastern Finnmark is polluted by large amounts of sulphur dioxide and heavy metals from the Soviet industrial town Nikeli. The cancer incidence in Pasvik may be increasing compared with the rest of Finnmark. A connection between the pollution and the increase in cancer incidence cannot ble excluded.