Fatal explosion injuries in Finland: a twenty-year nationwide survey.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Expanding violence may necessitate treatment of explosion victims, requiring a broadening of existing medical skills and knowlegde of injury mechanisms. The aim of the study was to assess the number, nature and injury pattern of fatal explosion incidents in Finland.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

Retrospective analysis of explosion-related deaths from January 1985 to December 2004. Death certificates were obtained and reviewed.

RESULTS

Over the 20-year period from 1985 to 2004, only 61 inviduals died in Finland as a result of unintentional or unspecified explosion related events. A homemade bomb assault for unknown motives killed seven people in a suburb in 2002. The incidence was 5.7 cases per 10,000,000 person-years. Suicides using explosives were slightly more common; on average 4 cases per year (6.7 cases per 10,000,000 person-years). A small increase in the fatality trend was noticeable during the last years of the study period.

CONCLUSIONS

The incidence of fatal explosion injuries is a minor problem, but a small increase can be seen during the last few years. Victims of such injuries required only minimal hospital resources, because in most cases they died at the scene. Our results suggest that efforts to prevent fatalities related to explosives or corresponding devices, or to reduce their number, should focus on prevention of intentions.