Human Toll Continues To Mount After A Year
It’s been a year since the Boston Marathon bombings and that will get a lot of attention this week. It has also been a year since the horrific explosion in the West, Texas fertilizer plant. The human toll continues to mount:
Fifteen people, including a dozen first responders, died last April 17 when stores of ammonium nitrate at West Fertilizer Co. detonated during a fire. It’s been estimated that more than 300 people were injured.
Government health officials were initially slow to study the extent of the West injuries. When they did, they limited their survey to those treated at hospitals and urgent care clinics. They did not canvass private medical practices, where blast victims were also treated. Nor did they track problems that may have surfaced later, such as brain injuries, hearing loss and post-traumatic stress disorder.
