[Accident prevention and emergency treatment of traumatic hand injuries in the metropolitan area of São Paulo].

The workman's hand is a "tool"; it is his most valuable asset. Worker selection and training, associated with a preventional approach, by employee and employer, humanises work and makes it more effective. The rate of hand injuries in the city of São Paulo is very high (of the order of 500 cases per day) and its aggregate cost is extremely high. The primary care of lesions is so poor that it well deserves the label of "second accident". The CIPAM-SUDS/SP system will provide a simpler and proper treatment by trained surgeons in full time duty in first-aid decentralized stations, located inside the industrial areas.