Abstract
This article describes the health care demands related to the care of victims of traffic accidents at the Pronto Socorro Municipal Hospital of Porto Alegre in 1988. In a sample of 4.629 ambulatory patients and 1.470 hospitalized patients, as obtained from hospital records, the distribution of victims on the basis of gender, age, hour, day of the week and month of the year were analyzed. Approximately two males were attented for every female. The greatest number of victims (52%) were aged 20 to 39; 38.2% of the victims were treated during the weekend; and 45.6% of the victims were treated between 4 p.m. and midnight.