Factors Affecting Availability of Primary and other Community Care

Thirty thousand residents in Central Los Angeles lost electrical power. This included a multi-square mile area near Vermont Avenue. Many residents in this area are elderly who live alone or in homes for the aged. Some bedridden and wheelchair bound individuals could have been without electricity for four days. In some cases, home care workers did not come in to visit them. Vermont Knoll Retirement Center lost power and had to keep insulin cold using ice. Their residents slept together in the lobby or community room. A Senior Citizen Center in Newhall made emergency food deliveries (Los Angeles Times, May 5, 1992b). Dialysis centers closed, as did clinics, doctors' offices, home health facilities, and other agencies that deliver primary care within the community.

Medical Care for the Injured

Continue to Other Injury Related Contributing Factors

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