With traumatic injuries, what you can't see may hurt most
In disasters such as the Metrolink train crash, concealed internal wounds are often the most dangerous. Trauma centers at UCLA and elsewhere are designed specifically to treat such critical patients.
By Mary Engel, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 22, 2008
In the 10 days since one of the worst commuter rail accidents in California history, the region's trauma surgeons have reknit shattered limbs, repaired battered organs and returned dozens of patients to homes and families, where many will now face weeks or months of painful recuperation.
Twenty patients remain in the region's hospitals as a result of the Sept. 12 head-on collision between a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train in Chatsworth. Four were still in critical condition Sunday.
The most obvious injuries were the open fractures, where splintered bones in arms and legs had punched through skin, spilling tissue and blood. But the biggest threat to those who survived the initial impact was the hidden mayhem inflicted on lungs, hearts, brains, livers and other internal organs when the train came to a dead stop, slamming bodies into seat backs, tables, the steel sides of the train cars and one another.
"It would be like standing against a wall and having a car hit you at 40 mph," said Dr. Henry Gill Cryer, trauma director for the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where several of the badly injured were treated.
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Showing posts with label commuter train crash. Show all posts
Showing posts with label commuter train crash. Show all posts
Monday, September 22, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Metrolink toll rises to 26 as somber commuters board trains again
Metrolink toll rises to 26 as somber commuters board trains again
L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa joins riders this morning in Chatsworth. Also, Metrolink's spokeswoman resigns after she is criticized for saying the crash was caused by an engineer's mistake.
By Jennifer Oldham, Steve Hymon and Ann M. Simmons, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
1:57 PM PDT, September 15, 2008
A 26th person who was in the Metrolink train collision in Chatsworth died today, the Los Angeles County Coroner's office said.
The victim was a white man in his 50s, who was pronounced dead at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, said Ed Winter, assistant chief of the coroner's office.
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also
Free counseling offered in wake of train crash
Mon, 15 Sep 2008 9:44:14 AM
The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health will be providing the counseling at two centers daily.
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L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa joins riders this morning in Chatsworth. Also, Metrolink's spokeswoman resigns after she is criticized for saying the crash was caused by an engineer's mistake.
By Jennifer Oldham, Steve Hymon and Ann M. Simmons, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
1:57 PM PDT, September 15, 2008
A 26th person who was in the Metrolink train collision in Chatsworth died today, the Los Angeles County Coroner's office said.
The victim was a white man in his 50s, who was pronounced dead at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, said Ed Winter, assistant chief of the coroner's office.
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also
Free counseling offered in wake of train crash
Mon, 15 Sep 2008 9:44:14 AM
The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health will be providing the counseling at two centers daily.
more
Saturday, September 13, 2008
LAPD officer killed in crash was a standout
LAPD officer killed in crash was a standout
Colleagues and department officials describe Officer Spree Desha, 35, a seven-year veteran, as a solid, serious cop. Desha recently started a new job at headquarters downtown.
By Andrew Blankstein and Joel Rubin, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
4:00 PM PDT, September 13, 2008
Amid the ranks of the city's young, ambitious police officers, Spree Desha stood out.
It was not just that she was tall and striking, although she was both of those. She was a solid, serious cop, who had begun a steady climb through the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Desha, 35, was killed Friday, one of at least 25 fatalities in the head-on collision of a Metrolink commuter train and a freight train in Chatsworth.
For the hundreds of police officers and firefighters who worked through the night, the tragedy turned personal as word spread that an officer was among the dead. Some at the scene were said to be former patrol partners of Desha's.
Scores of officers stood in two, solemn columns along the edge of the wreckage, a makeshift honor guard waiting to salute their fallen colleague. As her body was removed on a board, covered with an American flag, her colleagues gently carried her to an ambulance with military precision and respect. Desha's badge, said one officer who helped carry her body, was bent almost in half by the force of the crash.
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Colleagues and department officials describe Officer Spree Desha, 35, a seven-year veteran, as a solid, serious cop. Desha recently started a new job at headquarters downtown.
By Andrew Blankstein and Joel Rubin, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
4:00 PM PDT, September 13, 2008
Amid the ranks of the city's young, ambitious police officers, Spree Desha stood out.
It was not just that she was tall and striking, although she was both of those. She was a solid, serious cop, who had begun a steady climb through the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Desha, 35, was killed Friday, one of at least 25 fatalities in the head-on collision of a Metrolink commuter train and a freight train in Chatsworth.
For the hundreds of police officers and firefighters who worked through the night, the tragedy turned personal as word spread that an officer was among the dead. Some at the scene were said to be former patrol partners of Desha's.
Scores of officers stood in two, solemn columns along the edge of the wreckage, a makeshift honor guard waiting to salute their fallen colleague. As her body was removed on a board, covered with an American flag, her colleagues gently carried her to an ambulance with military precision and respect. Desha's badge, said one officer who helped carry her body, was bent almost in half by the force of the crash.
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LA Train crash death rises, engineer faulted
Metrolink engineer at fault in fatal crash
By Garrett Therolf, Esmeralda Bermudez and Gale Holland 11:55 a.m.
At least 18 are dead, with more fatalities expected as workers pick through the wreckage of Friday's collision, the worst crash in Metrolink history
Metrolink train crash: 18 dead in Chatsworth, toll expected to rise
By Garrett Therolf, Esmeralda Bermudez and Gale Holland 11:11 AM PDT
A commuter train carrying 225 slams into a freight train, leaving at least 135 injured. Rescuers continue their search today, hours after the last survivor was pulled from the wreckage. »
By Garrett Therolf, Esmeralda Bermudez and Gale Holland 11:55 a.m.
At least 18 are dead, with more fatalities expected as workers pick through the wreckage of Friday's collision, the worst crash in Metrolink history
Metrolink train crash: 18 dead in Chatsworth, toll expected to rise
By Garrett Therolf, Esmeralda Bermudez and Gale Holland 11:11 AM PDT
A commuter train carrying 225 slams into a freight train, leaving at least 135 injured. Rescuers continue their search today, hours after the last survivor was pulled from the wreckage. »
Commuter train crash death count rises to 17, LAPD officer among the dead
........A short time later, alongside the wreckage, scores of uniformed Los Angeles Police Department officers formed two lines in a makeshift formation waiting for rescue crews to extract the body of an LAPD officer on her way home from work.
Rescue workers pause to honor an LAPD officer as her body is removed from the wreckage.
By Joel Rubin, Ann M. Simmons and Mitchell Landsberg 5:18 a.m.
The commuter train collides with a Union Pacific freighter near Chatsworth. It's the worst crash in Metrolink history, and the toll could climb
17 dead, 135 injured in Metrolink crash
Rescue teams worked frantically into this morning after a Metrolink passenger train carrying 225 people collided Friday with a Union Pacific freight train on a sharp curve in Chatsworth, killing at least 17 people and leaving more than 135 injured. It was one of the worst train crashes in Southern California history and Metrolink officials said they could not explain why warning systems failed to prevent such a catastrophic collision.About 250 fire department personnel and 200 police officers were on the scene before dawn Saturday, the Associated Press reported.
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Friday, September 12, 2008
LA:4 dead 23 injured as commuter train and freight train collide
4 dead as commuter, freight trains collide
Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times
By David Pierson 6:04 p.m.
A fire erupts after a Metrolink train carrying 400 passengers crashes near Chatsworth.
• At least four dead and 23 injured
• As rescue workers survey the wreckage, officials expect the death toll to mount
• A Metrolink spokeswoman says it's unclear what caused the accident
Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times
By David Pierson 6:04 p.m.
A fire erupts after a Metrolink train carrying 400 passengers crashes near Chatsworth.
• At least four dead and 23 injured
• As rescue workers survey the wreckage, officials expect the death toll to mount
• A Metrolink spokeswoman says it's unclear what caused the accident
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