Healthcare providers are not powerless in the fight against firearm-related injury and death in the U.S., wrote five physician editors from leading medical journals.
The following editors contributed to the editorial: Annals of Internal Medicine's Executive Deputy Editor Darren Taichman, MD, PhD, and Editor-in-Chief Christine Laine, MD; JAMA's Editor-in-Chief Howard Bauchner, MD; New England Journal of Medicine's Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Drazen, MD; and PLOS Medicine's Chief Editor Larry Peiperl, MD.
Their editorial comes on the heels of what is now the deadliest mass shooting in American history — the Oct. 1 Las Vegas Strip shooting that killed 58 and injured 489. If an infectious disease harmed the same numbers of American citizens, "healthcare professionals would sound the alarm," the editors wrote. The industry would spring into action to raise funds and awareness, develop strategies and implement local responses. Gun violence is a public health crisis, they wrote, and the Las Vegas shooting is far from the first outbreak.
"We need to each ask ourselves what we have done to apply our knowledge and skills to help address the problem since the moment of silence that followed the last mass shooting," they wrote.
While healthcare professionals may feel powerless in addressing gun violence, there are many ways they can get involved to improve gun safety in the U.S., according to the editorial. Here are several ways the editors suggest physicians and other providers can get involved:
- Seek information on local gun policies and proposals to improve legislation.
- Contact local, state and federal legislators about gun control regularly.
- Volunteer or donate to organizations supporting gun control.
- Vote for politicians who support policies that promote gun safety.
- Voice your opinion to leaders at your organization, to the public, to the press.
- Learn about gun safety.
- Talk about gun safety with patients.
"As healthcare professionals, we don't throw up our hands in defeat because a disease seems to be incurable," the editors wrote. "We work to incrementally and continuously reduce its burden. That's our job."
Read the full commentary here.
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