1Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Government Allopathic Medical College, Banda (U.P.)
2Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Rajkiya Medical College, Jalaun (U.P.)
3Lecturer, Department of Physiology, Government Allopathic Medical College, Banda (U.P.)
5Principal, Government Allopathic Medical College, Banda (U.P.)
* Corresponding Author Charak Sangwan, Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Rajkiya Medical College, Jalaun (U.P.) Contact: +91 84330–28732 E-mail: sangwancharak@gmail.com
Introduction: Falls from height are the one of the major trauma cases presenting to emergency departments and often cause mortality and morbidity.
Materials and Methods: Forty cases of fall from height which occurred in National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi were analysed in department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Safdarjang Hospital, New Delhi with aim to correlate the pattern of injuries with site of primary impact and manner of death.
Results and Conclusions: Out of 40 cases, 85% were male victims. Majority of victims belonged to age group 21–50 years. Most of the cases had history of fall from buildings. In 37 cases (92.5%), manner of death was accidental. In most of the cases, height of fall was less than 10 meters. Primary head impact was most common type of impact followed by primary side impact. Cranio-cerebral damage was most common cause of death. Most commonly injured abdominal organ was liver followed by spleen. Death occurred within 24 hours of incidence in majority cases. Most of cases happened due to lack of appropriate fencing or barriers along balconies & terrace of buildings. Uniform policy should be made by developmental authorities in order to reduce such type of cases. It is advised to adopt various safety measures to prevent fall from height cases.
Height of fall, primary impact, subarachnoid haemorrhage, cranio-cerebral damage
