Determination of the knowledge level of health care staff working in pre-hospital emergency health services on the recognition of a forensic case

This study aimed to determine the knowledge level of pre-hospital emergency health service staff on the recognition of a forensic case. This descriptive study consisted of staff (n=68) employed at pre-hospital Emergency Health Services located in Turkey. The data were collected via a questionnaire form. It was found that during emergency medical intervention, 63.2% of the staff evaluated the individual for a possible forensic event, whereas 33.8% of them were not able to ask the adequate questions in order to reveal and investigate the presence of a forensic event. While 36.8% and 50.0% of staff surveyed experienced trouble with the recognition of a forensic case and the approach to a forensic case, respectively, 26.5% of staff indicated that they had, at least once, identified and reported forensic cases, up to the time of the study. As a result of this study, it was found that the education of staff concerning forensic cases was inadequate.