Tendency of assaulted casualties during Songkran festival

Background The Songkran Festival is celebrated in Thailand as the traditional New Year's Day from 13 to 15 April. In recent years during songkran festival there have been higher numbers of injured patients. Objective The study was conducted based on the tendency of assaulted casualties treated at Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital during Songkran Festival in 2009–2011 (11–17 April of each year). Methods The data were collected in the form of Injury Surveillance Record.The Injury Codes were in ICD-10 and the Injury Severity Scores (ISS) were provided according to Modified AIS 85. The databases used were Thailand's Injury Surveillance Programme and Microsoft Excel. Results The results are the following figures. The averages of casualties during Songkran Festival in 2009–2011 are respectively 22, 17 and 20 people per day, which are three times higher than normal average of eight people per day. The percentages of casualties whose ISS is more than 16 are 6.5, 8.5 and 7.7 respectively (The year averages of 2009–2011 are 5.6, 4.9 and 3.9 consecutively). Hospital admission and fatality rates are slightly higher. 82% of casualties are male. The most-found injury cause is blunt objects assault (Y00) occupying 35% of all injuries, followed by 29% of sharp objects assault and 28% of physical assault. Most of the casualties (67%) drink alcohol as well as the 70% of fatalities. Conclusions At present, it is believed that the tendency of assaulted casualties which are likely to be increased in number and severity is unpreventable and unsolvable as it depends on emotional conditions and aggressiveness of each casualty. If the problem is not solved, the numbers and degrees of severity will be higher. Thus, we should adopt effective measures in order to reduce the figures, and let people celebrate the festival safely.