A Long Night in the Emergency Department during the Baltimore, Maryland (USA) Riots

摘要

No one in the emergency department (ED) expected it to be a busy night. In the days prior, Baltimore (Maryland USA) residents protested the death of Freddie Gray while he was in police custody. This day, a Monday, the day of his funeral, we were not expecting violent protests or riots. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The events of the evening left a permanent impression on most of us that would not soon dissipate. My charge nurse and I had each traveled to disaster zones before, such as Hurricane Katrina (Gulf Coast, USA; 2005) and Gaza (Palestine) during the Intifada. In each of these cases, our safety was far from guaranteed.