Finding Common Ground
Ohio AAP Organizes New Coalition Around Firearms Sarah Denny, MD, FAAP
Lately, in every major city, the evening news reports of an individual injured or killed from a gun. These injuries do not happen only to adults, children are often involved too. In 2010, 2,711 children died from firearm-related injury – that is 7.4 kids per day, with 1/3 of those from unintentional injury or suicide. Deaths are only a sliver of the overall problem with 15,576 children being cared for in a US Emergency Department and 6,236 (40%) requiring hospitalization. Adolescents had three times the non-fatal injury rate due to a gun compared to the general population. Although children of all ages are at risk for injury, young children and adolescents are at greatest risk of injury from a firearm. We know that children commonly live in environments containing a gun in the home and children as young as 3 years of age have the ability to fire a gun. Little children are curious and big children are impulsive. Thus, we need to do a better job preventing unintended injuries to children and suicides with firearms in adolescents.
how to reduce gun-related teen suicides and unintentional firearm-related injuries. We realize that discussions around guns can be divisive, but we hoped to find some agreed upon messaging by bringing together many with different viewpoints about guns (eg. concealed carry instructors, shooting range owners, injury prevention specialists and former military). Thus, the Partnership for Safety of Children Around Firearms was developed.
As a Chapter, with the mission to promote the health, safety and well-being of children and adolescents so they may reach their full potential, it seemed obvious for us to find a way to address this problem. In response, we decided to bring together a group of people to find some common ground on
The group plans to present the Coalition plan this fall. Watch upcoming articles in Ohio Pediatrics and in our email newsletter, Ohio AAP Today, for updates.
To date, we have had two meetings, with future meetings planned. The goal of this group will be to determine common messaging we all agree upon in an attempt to make children safer in a world where firearms are accessible. In all injury prevention efforts, the combination of appropriate messaging, passive barriers to access, and proven safety products to prevent injury have successfully reduced injuries due to other mechanisms. This group will seek similar efforts to reduce gun related injuries to children in our state.
Sandy Hook ... continued from page 1 related to violence, accidents, and negligence are going down, these gun-related tragedy figures are not changing. We need to speak to our culture in ways that we haven’t before. That’s part of the work I’m doing with Sandy Hook Promise. We’re trying to engage people in this conversation before the gun is even in the equation. We are providing them with something to do, rather than just telling them to sign their name on a list. We offer programs that can be quickly and easily implemented in their communities and school systems for free. These programs address the heart of the matter regarding identification and prevention by training people to identify someone who might be on their way to hurt themselves or somebody else with a firearm, and get them the help they need before it results in disaster. We are also working closely with our federal government to pass meaningful mental health reform so that quality, comprehensive mental health care is available and accessible to more people. At the Ohio AAP Annual Meeting on September 23, 2016, I’ll be giving the keynote address to share more about our work and how you - as pediatricians and respected community leaders - can use your network and influence to 4
Ohio Pediatrics • Summer 2016
2016 Ohio AAP Annual Meeting #OhioAAPAM #Triumph4Kids
help bring these no-cost programs to the schools and youth organizations in your community. Following our keynote address, you will have the remainder of the conference to take a deep dive into mental health and injury prevention topics that will greatly impact your patient population such as child nutrition and immunity, early identification and intervention of social/ emotional development, bullying and cyberbullying, evidence-based pharmacotherapy, trauma-informed care in the pediatric medical home, childhood adversity and poor adult outcomes, and injury prevention for ages birth to four years. The conference SOLD OUT the last two years, so be sure to visit OhioAAP.org/AM for a complete agenda and to register today! Direct any questions to Elizabeth Dawson at edawson@ohioaap.org. www.ohioaap.org