How People were Injured

The CDC is conducting an epidemiological study of the "scope of intentional and unintentional injuries and illnesses that occurred in association with the disturbance and to identify underlying factors that could distinguish those persons at greatest risk" (CDC, 1992). The study looks into who participated in or was a victim of violent acts, the role that media played, and underlying community factors that contributed to the event. The accessibility and response of medical resources to this event compared to a natural disaster will be examined. Their study is partially completed as of this writing. What follows is a very preliminary and anecdotal overview of some of the factors that may have led to violent injuries during the civil disturbance. Injuries occurred in one of three ways during the civil disturbance: (1) injured while participating in looting or rioting or were injured by someone participating in these activities; (2) automobile related; or (3) injured indirectly from the loss of primary care, dialysis, in-home care or other community medical services. There is no information available about the third method of injury or data on the number of people affected. A number of riot and looting related actions caused injuries. These include shooting by hand guns and rifles; beatings, including use of a tire iron or other means; broken glass; stabbing; and burns. Persons drinking alcohol probably inflicted a number of injuries (EMSA EMT survey, comments by eye witnesses, and observations by emergency department staff.). In some cases the civil disturbance caused extreme stress in individuals, aggravating preexisting illness (chest pains, heart attack, seizures). This profile is similar to that seen in riots in the 1960s (Kentucky, 1968). According to anecdotal stories told by eye witnesses, pedestrians where hit by cars that were not obeying traffic laws. For example, they were driving on the wrong side of the road or making "U" turns in the middle of a block. Traffic signals were out in some areas. One auto crash involved a high speed chase which ended in death. Looking at where the civil disturbance started, the Los Angeles Times reported that: Although the African-American working class dominates the neighborhoods where the initial rioting occurred -- Hyde Park and the intersection of Florence and Normandie avenues -- those flash points also have substantial Latino minorities of 26% and 28%, respectively. Eight of the first 23 acts of violence reported during the rioting occurred in mostly Latino neighborhoods, and all but one of the 23 occurred in a neighborhood that had undergone significant demographic change during the past decade (Los Angeles Times, November 20, 1992). The CDC abstraction of records from two hospitals (discussed above) provides limited insight into how injuries occurred. During the day of the civil disturbance, the largest number of people appears to have been injured by firearms (40.3%) or by an intentional injury (14.5%) such as cutting, hit by a blunt object, or beaten (Table 3). The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner classified 82% (42) of the deaths as being homicides, 16 % (8) accidental, and 1 % (1) by natural causes. The following table reports this data. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner also reported the cause of death (Table 5). The vast majority were shot followed in order by a traffic related injury, arson. and beating. The Sacramento Bee published a list of 49 riot victims, including cause of death, on May 6 (this is before the Medical Examiner's final evaluation). The following table reports the ethnicity of 38 persons dying from gunshot wounds. The majority were either African-American or Hispanic.

Medical Care for the Injured

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