AKA unknown male Foxtrot 23/4: alias assignment for unidentified emergencyroom patients

Objectives-To introduce a unique system of alias assignment for patients wh ose identity is initially unknown at time of admission to the emergency uni t; to prevent confusion and cases of mistaken identity. Methods-At the triage area the "unknown" patient is given a "forename" usin g the phonetic alphabet according to the stage of the current name cycle. T he sex of the patient is included as well as the unknown status and a "surn ame" is added as the numerical date. Thus an unknown male patient admitted on the 24th of April at the start of a new name cycle would be known as "un known male Alpha 24/4". Results-Ten thousand alias assignments have been issued to patients since t he introduction of the system in 1985. Conclusion-This system is a simple yet effective, tried and tested method f or the unique identification of unknown patients, which allows easy communi cation and retrieval of data for inquiries.