[Senegal: installation of a microcomputer in the emergency admission service of the Ziguinchor Regional Hospital].

An Emergency Department was opened at the Regional Hospital of Ziguinchor in August 1993. Although adapted to local conditions, facilities are state-of-the-art and allow 24-hour reception of patients regardless of the gravity of their condition. There are many people involved: family, police, firemen, administration ... and there are also many questions. Records must be efficiently and accurately managed and the computer is the ideal tool for this purpose. The department was able to install a system at a particularly low cost since the PC computer and Epi-Info software were provided at no charge by the World Health Organization. To ensure consistent data entry, a coding system was used with some codes being specific to the department. Thanks to this system the department now has a 24 hour source of information for day-to-day management, statistical reporting, regional morbidity assessment, comparison of performance with similar facilities, and patient follow-up. Our experience shows that this type of low-cost computer system and simple processing techniques are perfectly suited to the special requirements of medical practice in Black Africa.