PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - A J Brooks
AU  - C Macnab
AU  - K Boffard
TI  - AKA unknown male Foxtrot 23/4: alias assignment for unidentified emergency room patients.
AID  - 10.1136/emj.16.3.171
DP  - 1999 May 01
TA  - Journal of Accident & Emergency Medicine
PG  - 171--173
VI  - 16
IP  - 3
4099  - http://emj.bmj.com/content/16/3/171.short
4100  - http://emj.bmj.com/content/16/3/171.full
SO  - Arch Emerg Med1999 May 01; 16
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To introduce a unique system of alias assignment for patients whose identity is initially unknown at time of admission to the emergency unit; to prevent confusion and cases of mistaken identity. METHODS: At the triage area the "unknown" patient is given a "forename" using the phonetic alphabet according to the stage of the current name cycle. The sex of the patient is included as well as the unknown status and a "surname" 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 "unknown male Alpha 24/4". RESULTS: Ten thousand alias assignments have been issued to patients since the introduction of the system in 1985. CONCLUSION: This system is a simple yet effective, tried and tested method for the unique identification of unknown patients, which allows easy communication and retrieval of data for inquiries.