Emergency room doctors across the country say more and more
children are coming through their doors.
The reason? Firearms.
20 days later would be her 16th birthday.
You took her away from me.
Stories like this one have become all too common.
Young people injured and killed by firearms.
We get a frantic 911 call from someone in the
household that there was an accidental shooting involving a four
year old boy,
a new study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics showing
during the pandemic.
Injuries from firearms doubled among children.
Deaths from firearm injuries that occurred after arrival to the
hospital also doubled.
I find it heartbreaking whenever I have to care for
a child who's injured by a firearm.
Doctor Jennifer Hoffman is AER physician and the lead researcher
on the study,
which says half of the injuries were among older teens,
15 to 17 years old,
and 2/3 of the visits were youth from under resourced
neighborhoods.
Increases in firearm injury Emergency visits occurred only among black
and Hispanic youth,
but not among white youth.
Which widened disparities that were existing prior to the pandemic
Onset.
Injuries and deaths among youth overall were not just related
to gun violence.
Other times these are self-inflicted.
Unfortunately, we're seeing more teens having mental health issues and
suicidal thoughts since the start of the pandemic.
The solutions The authors suggest parents keeping guns unloaded and
stored separately from ammunition.
They also recommend community investment,
child access prevention laws, and universal background checks.
Hoping to stop a trend not only impacting families,
but the medical teams working to save lives,
Amber Strong Scripts News.