Conclusion

Abstract

The variety of working conditions, transport problems and leisure activities that may be encountered offer an ever increasing list of special accident situations, some of which may only be encountered very infrequently. An example of this is the use of a police dog to locate a missing part of a patient. Such a case was reported in the medical press in 1965 (Kirkup, J.R., Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 1965, 478, 106) in which a ten-inch piece of a motorcyclist’s femur was found to be missing after a collision involving a car in a rural area. A police dog was used to find the piece of bone in a nearby hedge. The bone was subsequently replaced at operation where it successfully acted as a scaffold, contributing to the return of full leg function. Such an occurrence certainly reinforces the belief that no two accidents are ever the same and that the highest standard of emergency care demands a general appreciation of the various services available.