Complicated Recovery Awaits Victims Injured in Vegas Attack

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Their concert turned into a siege, and now their lives may become a battle. The staggering count of people injured in the shooting at a Las Vegas music festival means their recoveries are likely to be as varied as the victims themselves. Some injuries are as simple as broken bones, others gunshot wounds involving multiple surgeries and potential transplants, and all come with the added emotional scars of enduring the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history, with 59 killed. At least 130 people remained hospitalized Tuesday, with 48 listed in critical condition. Hospitals said 185 others had already been released. At Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center alone, the count of those treated included 120 people who were struck by gunfire, a glimpse of the amount of ammunition unleashed in the attack. Rehabilitation for the most seriously hurt victims will take far longer than many may realize. "Years," said Dr. Thomas Scalea, physician-in-chief at the University of Maryland's Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, one of the nation's largest trauma centers. "It's not days or weeks." Edward Leon raced to Las Vegas from Palm Springs, California, after learning his niece was shot in the stomach. He said he cried the whole way there. Although she survived an initial operation, he worries about what will come next. "She's out of surgery," he said, "but it's a long road ahead." At the site of the attack, people fashioned stretchers ou...
Source: JEMS: Journal of Emergency Medical Services News - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Major Incidents News Mass Casualty Incidents Patient Care Source Type: news