Injuries Reported by Hospitals

Hospital emergency department data indicates that 2,383 persons were injured between April 29 through May 3. Of these, 227 were critical. An "Injured" person could be either critical or non-critical. A "non-critical" was treated at the hospital and then released during this time period. "Critical" is a patient admitted to the hospital (LAEMSA, May, 1992). In terms of first responders to the event, three fire fighters, and sixty-six law enforcement personnel (police, sheriff, national guard) were injured (Los Angeles Times, May 11, 1992). The definition of injured and the way data was collected by LAEMSA have several important methodological problems. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) fielded a study team soon after the disturbance was over. They pointed out several problems with the definition of "injured" (CDC, 1992): A definite case [is defined as] any person who was injured, became ill, or who died in Los Angeles... for whom details noted in the medical record, emergency department ledger, or by the coroner specified the injury or death as being related to the unrest; A possible case [is defined as] person who was injured, became ill, or who died within the county... for whom there was no mention of the unrest in the medical data but whose injury or death occurred within a one-block vicinity of the disturbance and was of a type that was consistent with others that occurred during the unrest .... A field study of two hospitals' admission records conducted by the CDC found that: "...the number of patients admitted with unrest-related injuries (72) were smaller than the information we received in the emergency department telephone survey (106). Numerous patients marked as 'admitted' on emergency department charts had no inpatient record, an incompatible diagnosis, or had left against medical advice. We completed a review of all the records of admitted or 'dead on arrival' at two hospitals. Of the records reviewed..., a minority were identified as cases (26%), the majority were possible cases (69%), and the remainder were non-cases (5%). (CDC, 1992) This data suggests that hospital estimates of the number of injured that they treated may be over stated by as much as 763 (32%). If this correction is appropriate and is born out by the CDC's study, then hospitals treated between 1,620 and 2,383 civil disturbance related injured persons. Injury data reported for the 1965 Watts riots had similar problems. In this case, the authors believe that the overestimates resulted from pressure from news media on hospitals to provide data. The discrepancy ran as high as 50% in some cases (Boskin and Pilson, 1970). Data currently being developed by Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and LAEMSA from hospital emergency department logs should help to separate civil disturbance related injuries from those that weren't. Lacking more valid and reliable information at this time, this study uses LAEMSA data.

Medical Care for the Injured

Continue to Injuries Cared for in the Field

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