From across the globe – traumatic injuries are an international concern at the US-Mexico border wall
Introduction Socio-economic and political events of recent years have caused a significant increase in immigrants attempting to illegally cross the United States (US)-Mexico border. While a 30-foot border wall separates the US and Mexico, immigrants from around the world have used this location as t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2024-10-01
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| Series: | Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open |
| Online Access: | https://tsaco.bmj.com/content/9/1/e001308.full |
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| author | Allison E Berndtson Jay Doucet Todd W Costantini Laura Haines Sarah Lagan Laura Adams Jarrett Santorelli Gabriella Waters |
| author_facet | Allison E Berndtson Jay Doucet Todd W Costantini Laura Haines Sarah Lagan Laura Adams Jarrett Santorelli Gabriella Waters |
| author_sort | Allison E Berndtson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction Socio-economic and political events of recent years have caused a significant increase in immigrants attempting to illegally cross the United States (US)-Mexico border. While a 30-foot border wall separates the US and Mexico, immigrants from around the world have used this location as their point of entry to the US. These border crossings have led to a dramatic increase in major trauma resulting in increased inpatient resource utilization and the need for comprehensive hospital services. The aim of this study was to describe the nationality of injured immigrants admitted to a Trauma Center serving a segment of the US-Mexico border wall and to report their ultimate destinations after discharge.Methods We performed a retrospective review of patients admitted to an academic, Level 1 Trauma Center after injury at the US-Mexico border wall from 2021 to 2022. Demographic information was obtained from the trauma registry. The electronic medical record was searched to identify each patient’s self-reported country of origin. Patients’ nationality was then stratified by region of the world to understand geographic representation of border injury admissions.Results We identified 597 patients injured while crossing the US-Mexico border wall representing 38 different countries. The mean age of patients was 32.2±10.4 years and 446 (75%) were male. Most patients (405, 67.8%) were Mexican, followed by 23 (3.9%) patients from Peru, 17 (2.8%) patients from India, 14 (2.3%) patients from El Salvador, 13 (2.2%) patients from Cuba and 12 (2.0%) patients from Jamaica. When considering regions of the world other than Mexico, patients were most commonly from Africa, South America and Central America.Conclusion The increased volume of trauma associated with the US-Mexico border wall is a humanitarian and health crisis.(1) The diverse national origin of patients admitted after injury from border wall falls has shed new light on the social and interpreter services needed to care for these border injury patients and the challenges that exist in their post-discharge care. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9b48aecf1b1c4dbd9cdd9bd94fb428f6 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2397-5776 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-9b48aecf1b1c4dbd9cdd9bd94fb428f62025-01-24T11:30:09ZengBMJ Publishing GroupTrauma Surgery & Acute Care Open2397-57762024-10-019110.1136/tsaco-2023-001308From across the globe – traumatic injuries are an international concern at the US-Mexico border wallAllison E Berndtson0Jay Doucet1Todd W Costantini2Laura Haines3Sarah Lagan4Laura Adams5Jarrett Santorelli6Gabriella Waters7Surgery, University of California San Diego Health System, San Diego, California, USADepartment of Surgery, University of California San Diego Health System, San Diego, California, USASurgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USAUniversity of California San Diego Health Sciences, La Jolla, California, USA1 Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USADepartment of Surgery, Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care, Burns and Acute Care Surgery, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, USADepartment of Surgery, Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care, Burns and Acute Care Surgery, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, USAUniversity of California San Diego Health Sciences, La Jolla, California, USAIntroduction Socio-economic and political events of recent years have caused a significant increase in immigrants attempting to illegally cross the United States (US)-Mexico border. While a 30-foot border wall separates the US and Mexico, immigrants from around the world have used this location as their point of entry to the US. These border crossings have led to a dramatic increase in major trauma resulting in increased inpatient resource utilization and the need for comprehensive hospital services. The aim of this study was to describe the nationality of injured immigrants admitted to a Trauma Center serving a segment of the US-Mexico border wall and to report their ultimate destinations after discharge.Methods We performed a retrospective review of patients admitted to an academic, Level 1 Trauma Center after injury at the US-Mexico border wall from 2021 to 2022. Demographic information was obtained from the trauma registry. The electronic medical record was searched to identify each patient’s self-reported country of origin. Patients’ nationality was then stratified by region of the world to understand geographic representation of border injury admissions.Results We identified 597 patients injured while crossing the US-Mexico border wall representing 38 different countries. The mean age of patients was 32.2±10.4 years and 446 (75%) were male. Most patients (405, 67.8%) were Mexican, followed by 23 (3.9%) patients from Peru, 17 (2.8%) patients from India, 14 (2.3%) patients from El Salvador, 13 (2.2%) patients from Cuba and 12 (2.0%) patients from Jamaica. When considering regions of the world other than Mexico, patients were most commonly from Africa, South America and Central America.Conclusion The increased volume of trauma associated with the US-Mexico border wall is a humanitarian and health crisis.(1) The diverse national origin of patients admitted after injury from border wall falls has shed new light on the social and interpreter services needed to care for these border injury patients and the challenges that exist in their post-discharge care.https://tsaco.bmj.com/content/9/1/e001308.full |
| spellingShingle | Allison E Berndtson Jay Doucet Todd W Costantini Laura Haines Sarah Lagan Laura Adams Jarrett Santorelli Gabriella Waters From across the globe – traumatic injuries are an international concern at the US-Mexico border wall Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open |
| title | From across the globe – traumatic injuries are an international concern at the US-Mexico border wall |
| title_full | From across the globe – traumatic injuries are an international concern at the US-Mexico border wall |
| title_fullStr | From across the globe – traumatic injuries are an international concern at the US-Mexico border wall |
| title_full_unstemmed | From across the globe – traumatic injuries are an international concern at the US-Mexico border wall |
| title_short | From across the globe – traumatic injuries are an international concern at the US-Mexico border wall |
| title_sort | from across the globe traumatic injuries are an international concern at the us mexico border wall |
| url | https://tsaco.bmj.com/content/9/1/e001308.full |
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