OBJECTIVETo investigate the current situation of treatment for acute chemical poisoning in the emergency departments and occupational disease departments of some general hospitals and to provide a basis for improving the ability of general hospital to deal with acute chemical poisoning.

METHODSFour hospitals from Shandong Province, Beijing City, and Shanxi Province, China were selected in the study. They included two first-class hospitals located in the downtown, where the patients with acute chemical poisoning from urban and suburban areas were admitted to the occupational disease departments, and two second-class hospitals located in the suburban area or county, where the patients with acute chemical poisoning from the suburban area were admitted to the emergency departments. A questionnaire survey was conducted in 141 medical workers (51 persons in the emergence department group and 90 persons in the occupational disease department group) that were engaged in the treatment of acute chemical poisoning in the four hospitals; 1999 medical records were analyzed. Individual in-depth interviews, questionnaire investigation, and field observation were used to compare the emergency department group and occupational disease department group in terms of the ability to deal with acute chemical poisoning and the training on treatment for acute chemical poisoning.

RESULTSThe emergency department group had significantly higher proportion of pesticide poisoning cases than the occupational disease department group (P<0.01). Thirty-seven of the patients in occupational disease department group died, with a fatality rate of 2.7%, and 14 of the patients in emergence department group died,with a fatality rate of 2.2%, so there was no significant difference between the two groups in this regard (P>0.05). There were significantly more cases treated without emergency plan in the emergency department group than in the occupational disease department group ( 37.3% vs. 10.0%, P <0.0 1). The occupational disease department group had significantly higher score of knowledge about the treatment for acute chemical poisoning than the emergence department group (7.2±1.3 vs. 5.2±0.9, P<0.01 ). There were significantly lower proportions of medical staff who had received training on the knowledge about acute chemical poisoning and on the emergency disposal of acute chemical poisoning in the emergency department group than in the occupational disease department group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONThere is a lack of the knowledge about treatment for acute chemical poisoning and protective measures during treatment among the medical staff in general hospitals, and related training and emergency plan are needed.