After the L.A. County fires, heart attacks and strange blood test results spiked
Emergency room visits for heart attacks at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center jumped 46% in the 90 days after the fire, and unusual blood test results more than doubled.
The new findings are part of a research project documenting the fires’ long-term health effects.
Researchers believe the fires’ true death toll is much higher than the 31 documented fatalities related to injuries.
In the first 90 days after the Palisades and Eaton fires erupted in January, the caseload at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s emergency room looked different from the norm.
There were 46% more visits to the Los Angeles hospital for heart attacks than typically occurred during the same period over the previous seven years. Visits for respiratory illnesses increased 24%. And unusual blood test results increased 118%.