ABSTRACT
Objective:
To describe the profile of suicide attempts assisted by the Fire Department of a Brazilian semi-arid municipality.
Methods:
This is a cross-sectional study, containing data of care provided to victims of suicide attempts, conducted by the military firefighters of the state of Alagoas, from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2017. The following variables were selected: sex, age, outcome, intoxication, alcohol use, mental disorder, season of the year, day of the week, schedule, nature of occurrence, response time, transportation time and total time. The chi-square, Fisher's exact test and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used.
Results:
Between 2000 and 2017, 144 victims of suicide attempts were cared. The frequency of care between men (n = 73; 50,7%) and women (n = 71; 49,3%) was similar. The women showed younger age (p < 0,001) and used the intoxication method (p < 0,001) twice as often as the men. The presence of mental disorder (p = 0,04) was more common among the men and the time consumed during prehospital care was higher among them, indicating that, possibly, suicide attempts committed by men require greater care for the assistance provided by firefighters.
Conclusions:
The profile of victims of suicide attempts showed a similar frequency between men and women, with younger women. In women, there was a predominance of intoxications. Besides that, mental disorders were more prevalent. However, it is necessary to early recognition of cases of suicide attempts, the main forms of action and the adequate completion of pre-hospital care forms.
KEYWORDS
Suicide attempted; suicide; prehospital care; firefighters; epidemiology