Injury hospitalizations before and after the 1994 Northridge, California earthquake - 05/09/11
Abstract |
This study compared hospital-admitted injuries during the 14 days after the Northridge, California, earthquake of January 17, 1994, with hospital-admitted injuries during the preceding 16 days at the same facilities. Seventy-eight hospitals providing emergency care in Los Angeles County were screened; 16 were identified as having admitted at least one person for an earthquake-related injury. Retrospective chart reviews of hospitalized injuries for all of January 1994 were conducted at those facilities. The Northridge earthquake resulted in 138 injuries severe enough to require hospitalization. On the day of the earthquake, such injuries were 74% more frequent than usual overall. Some hospitals experienced as many as five times the number of injury admissions seen in the days preceding the event. The increase in caseload was short-lived, however; injury admissions tended to return to normal levels within two days after the quake. Previous reported estimates of the overall number of severe injuries caused by the Northridge earthquake appear to be exaggerated. (Am J Emerg Med 2000;18:361-366. Copyright © 2000 by W.B. Saunders Company)
Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.Keywords : Disaster, earthquake, injuries, hospital admissions
Plan
Supported by the California Department of Health Services, Emergency Preparedness and Injury Control Branch (Contract no. 95-23008) through funds from the Federal Emergency Medical Administration, and the Southern California Injury Prevention Research Center (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant no. CCR 903622). |
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Address reprint requests to David L. McArthur, PhD, MPH, 76-078 CHS, UCLA School of Public Health, 10833 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772. |
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Am J Emerg Med 2000;18:361-366. |
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0735-6757/00/1804-0001$10.00/0 |
Vol 18 - N° 4
P. 361-366 - juillet 2000 Retour au numéroBienvenue sur EM-consulte, la référence des professionnels de santé.
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