Information was collected on all parasuicides presenting to the emergency department of a general hospital over a 3-month period. Detection rates & referral patterns were examined. Emergency department risk assessments of parasuicide were compared with those by a psychiatric liaison team. The latter detected 123 cases compared to 105 cases detected by the former. Both groups agreed in all cases judged to be at low risk of suicide. However, in cases that emergency doctors judged to be high risk the liaison assessment agreed in only 38.5% of cases. More training is recommended for emergency department doctors. (10 refs.)