It's 2:00 A.M. on a Saturday morning when police spot the limp body of a man lying in a park in downtown Seattle. Initially they assume he is a street person "sleeping one off", but further investigation reveals that he has been assaulted and cannot move. Emergency units are called and he is rushed to the nearest trauma unit.
After extensive examination, it is found that the man has been struck with a blunt object and has sustained a high-level spinal cord injury that will leave him paralyzed from the neck down. Later, authorities learn that the victim is homeless, has no family, and has a long history of alcoholism. He does not remember the attack, and the assailant is never found.
A teenage boy is rushed to the trauma unit after being shot numerous times, at close range, in a gang-related incident. He is on life support, unable to breathe on his own, with a C-2 level incomplete spinal cord injury. The gang unit of the Seattle Police Department determines that the patient is still in danger, even in the hospital, and posts police guards at his bedside to protect him from gang members who might want to "finish him off". Later, when the patient is able to speak, he refuses to cooperate with police or name his assailant, fearing retaliation.
A 45-year-old woman breaks off a relationship with a man whom she has been dating for a short time. He begins harassing and stalking her. She contacts the police, obtains a restraining order, and changes her phone number, but the harassment continues. One morning the man waits outside her home and follows her to work, where he shoots her from his car and then speeds away from the scene. The bullet injures the woman's spine, resulting in complete Paraplegia. Her attacker remains at large for several months before being apprehended out of state, tried, and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Ten years ago, scenarios like these were unusual in most parts of the country. In 1984, the majority of spinal cord injuries (SCIs) in the United States were caused by Motor vehicle accidents, followed by falls and sporting or recreational activities. However, trauma centers across the country are receiving and treating cases resulting from violence at an alarmingly increased rate.
According to a fact sheet published in March by the University of Alabama National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center in Birmingham, AL, acts of violence -- primarily gunshot wounds -- account for 25.1% of the SCI cases that have been reported nationally since 1990. That percentage has increased steadily since 1973, while that of injuries caused by motor vehicle accidents and sporting activities has declined. Injury prevention efforts, such as seat belt laws and improved protective gear for sports activities, have probably contributed to this trend, but the number of injuries resulting from violent acts is increasing as well.
