THE EFFECTS OF THE NORTHRIDGE EARTHQUAKE ON THE PATTERN OF EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT CARE

This study's objective was to describe the types of injuries that shou ld be anticipated after a major earthquake, Data for the 6 days prior to the earthquake, the 6 days after the earthquake, and for the day of the earthquake the previous year were obtained from the Emergency Dep artment of Northridge Hospital, Northridge, CA, Demographic data, incl uding age and sex, as well as the reason for the visit, were obtained from patient logs. The average number of patients per day was 110 befo re the earthquake and 185 after the earthquake. On the day of the eart hquake, 343 patients were seen. Lacerations increased from 7.1% of all visits before the earthquake to 22.4% after the earthquake (P < .01), Immediately after the Northridge earthquake, there was a threefold in crease in emergency patient visits. The biggest increase occurred in t he number of patients presenting with contusions and lacerations, The number of pregnant women presenting in labor and with vaginal bleeding also increased. Disaster managers should take these patterns into acc ount when planning for major seismic events. Copyright (C) 1998 by W.B . Saunders Company.