Due to the advanced state of industry a number of devices and machines

have come into common use which, often through intentional misuse, result
in very serious injuries. Two examples are the automobile and the gun. When
a serious injury results from something such as an automobile accident the
victim usually has a very short period in which to obtain emergency medical
intervention before the shock resulting from his or her injuries is irreversible.
Usually this period of time is not longer than one hour, and is often less. If
measures to treat shock and the cause of the shock, massive internal bleeding
for instance, are not instituted within this first hour after the injury the
mortality rate increases exponentially every fifteen to twenty minutes.

The state of emergency medical care currently practiced in this community

involves an excellent pre-hospital phase under the jurisdiction of Los Angeles
City paramedics. The paramedics have jurisdiction of about thirty-five
emergency rooms to which their patients can be transferred after beginning
medical treatment at the scene of the accident. This is where the problem
occurs. To provide the best possible emergency care at the hospital, two
factors play an important part. First, the staff must work on at least two to
three severely injured patients daily to maintain their technical skill at top
level. Second, surgeons and operating rooms must be available within 15
minutes notice, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year. In the San
Fernando Valley, this level of care is not met anywhere. In greater Los
Angeles, this level of care is met at less than six hospitals. The problem
involves too many emergency rooms for the population. The cost of
maintaining an operating room on fifteen minute standby day and night
would put hospitals out of business, since even the busiest hospitals only
receive three to four severely injured patients each week. The patient load
would not support the very high cost of this service.