In 2017, Chethan Sathya started his fellowship in pediatric surgery at a Chicago hospital as a gunshot victim came into the emergency department. It was a 6-month-old baby who had been shot in the abdomen. “I remember having both my fingers on the bullet wounds,” he said. The baby survived but remains paralyzed. It is clear that gun violence is a health-care issue. In 2021, nearly 49,000 Americans died from gun-related injuries. Firearm injury has become the leading cause of death among U.S. children. The surgeon general deemed firearm violence a public health crisis. Sathya, now a pediatric trauma surgeon and the director of the Center for Gun Violence Prevention at Northwell Health in New York, is among a growing number of clinicians reimagining the role of health-care systems so that providers see themselves as integral to preventing firearm injury, reports the Washington Post.
One of Northwell’s innovative efforts is screening all patients who come to the emergency department for their risk of firearm injury. Patients are asked whether they have a firearm at home and, if so, it is properly secured, and whether they are at an elevated risk of gun injury? This considers factors such as peer influence and living in an area with a high rate of firearm violence. Another important part of Northwell’s approach is its intervention. Someone who keeps firearms at home will receive counseling on safe storage. If they don’t already secure their weapons, the hospital will provide them with a gun lock. If hospital staff determines someone to be at risk of becoming involved in a gang, that patient will be referred to community violence intervention programs. Northwell hires “credible messengers” — people who have been shot themselves — to speak with patients while they are in the hospital. They act as case managers to link patients to community resources and offer additional social assistance, such as housing and employment opportunities. In 2½ years, Northwell’s clinicians have performed more than 40,000 screenings across three hospitals.