Post Disaster Patient Load in the Emergency Department

The need for follow up wound care increased the emergency department patient load. People who waited out the disturbance also came in for care. Hospital staff said that this latter population began to arrive on Sunday. There is no data available to determine if they were sicker than usual or the relative cost in care associated with this wait. However, data from other civil disturbances indicate that some patients may have been unable to get to their private physician either inside or outside of the disaster area and came to the hospital instead (Hospital Topics, 1968). The same may have happened here, as many private physicians offices and clinics were closed. Also, some patients may have been suffering from drug withdrawal (Berkower, 1968). Saint Francis Medical Center experienced a higher level of kidney dialysis the following week. Dialysis clinics in the area closed during the civil disturbance.

Medical Care for the Injured

Continue to Cost of Providing Care

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