Medical consequences of the New Mexico State Penitentiary riot.

On February 2, 1980, a riot broke out among the 1,157 inmates at the New Mexico State Penitentiary and 139 people were injured. Of these, 33 died. Survivors had a variety of problems resulting from blunt or penetrating trauma, acute intoxication with drugs, or smoke inhalation. Fourteen percent of the casualties arrived at local hospitals in serious or critical condition. A study of the injury patterns revealed a significant difference (P less than .001) in the incidence of severe head trauma in those who had died compared to those who survived. Most of the seriously or critically ill survivors suffered from acute poisoning or from penetrating wounds.