Increased Mortality and Morbidity Due to the Increase in Border Wall Height

Sharmeen Azad; Andrew McCague; Austin Henken-Siefken

doi:10.7759/cureus.51113

Increased Mortality and Morbidity Due to the Increase in Border Wall Height

Cureus. 2023 Dec 26;15(12):e51113. doi: 10.7759/cureus.51113. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Sharmeen Azad^{1

2}, Andrew McCague³, Austin Henken-Siefken¹

Affiliations

¹ Surgery, Desert Regional Medical Center, Palm Springs, USA.
² Surgery, Western University of Health Sciences, Lebanon, USA.
³ Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, Desert Regional Medical Center, Palm Springs, USA.

Abstract

Objective Our retrospective cohort study focuses on the differences in the severity of injuries sustained from border wall falls before and after wall height increase. Severity of injuries is categorized by injury severity score (ISS), length of stay in the hospital (LOS), ventilation, intensive care unit (ICU), and surgery. The purpose of this study is to underline the medical consequences of extending the US-Mexico border wall. Specifically, we focused on the severity of injuries that are seen in trauma centers near the US-Mexico border. We propose that the rise in trauma cases from the border wall is associated with the extension of the border wall. Methods This IRB-approved, retrospective cohort study included all patients that were admitted to Desert Regional Medical Center, a level 1 trauma center in Palm Springs, California, United States. Patients were admitted between March 2016 and December 2021, after sustaining a fall from the border wall. The fall of the height ranged from 15 to 30 feet. Patients were assigned to pre-2020 or post-2020 subgroups, based on time of admission. The total number of admissions, ISS, LOS, surgeries, ventilation, and ICU services were compared. Results Injuries from border wall falls grew 1250% from 2016 to 2021 (4 vs 50 admissions). When comparing the two subgroups, hospital admissions (20 vs 84) and ISS (9 vs 15) have also risen dramatically. Of all the variables compared, the days spent in the ICU proved to be statistically significant at a p-value of 0.02. Although the remaining data was not statistically significant, there still remains a trend of increasing injuries that are also more severe in presentation, requiring more interventions. Conclusions The increase in border height has led to a record-high number of admissions and severity of injuries. This study shows that increasing the border wall height has led to a public health crisis and underlines the profound impact that political decisions have in the medical field.

Keywords: border wall fall; border wall height; fatalities; lower extremity injuries; mexican border wall; trauma.