New data reveals a significant increase in emergency department visits following the Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles County. Visits spiked eightfold for illnesses and injuries linked directly to the fires, possibly due to a combination of factors including pre-existing seasonal viral illness trends and smoke exposure.
Los Angeles County residents are still recovering from the devastation of the Palisades and Eaton fires, and new data show that emergency department (Fueled by bone-dry conditions and winds reaching gusts of 100 mph, the Palisades and Eaton fires roared through tens of thousands of acres, destroying more than 16,000 structures and killing 29 people.
The fires took weeks to put out completely and dirtied the air Los Angelenos breathed during that time.visits actually dropped by 9% in the first six days after the fires broke out, compared to the three weeks prior. trends during natural disasters generally, as people focus more on moving away from affected areas; schools and businesses are shut down; and many folks take added precautions around their health.encounters for illnesses and injuries linked directly to the fires.
Rates for these visits spiked eight-fold, from 0.06% of encounters before the blazes began to 0.52% of visits, peaking at 1% of ED encounters on Jan. 8, the data showed.That might be due to the fact that the county was already deep into "peak" viral illness season, so added encounters for respiratory issues might have been masked by that seasonal trend. These and other factors may have led to an underestimation of true ED visits prompted by the wildfires, they said.
WILDFIRES EMERGENCY CARE PUBLIC HEALTH SMOKE EXPOSURE CALIFORNIA
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