[Medical care due to accidental causes in emergency public services--Teresina, Piauí--2009].

Accidents are a major issue in the public health agenda and accidents from external causes represent a current challenge for public policies. The scope of this article is to describe the characteristics of emergency care grouped in the "other accidents" category of the "VIVA" 2009 survey, in the public services of Teresina-Piauí. Data was collected from standard forms entered into Epi Info 3.5.1 and analyzed in Stata 11 (module svy). Characteristics relating to the victims, the occurrence and care were compared according to age group and the type of accident using the Pearson chi-square test. Of the total of 2,061 external cause accidents, 677 (32.9%) were due to "other accidents," of which 202 (29.8%) involved wounds from sharp cutting objects, 172 (25.4%) with objects falling on the person or the person hitting an object, 111 (16.4%) with unknown objects and 70 (10.3%) with accidents involving animals. Accidents in the household with injuries located on the torso leading to hospitalization were greater in patients <20 years (p<0,005). Important differences were identified in the pattern of the occurrence among the types of accidents. The magnitude of these events suggests the need for programs that reduce vulnerability to accidents, linking health promotion and prevention actions.