KANSAS CITY – Recent data shows that firearms are the leading cause of death for children in America. Many within the medical community are stepping up efforts to encourage those in government positions to address the issue.
Dr. Lindsay Clukies is a pediatric emergency physician at St. Louis Children's Hospital. She says gun violence is a public health issue that needs to be addressed like any other.
"I have a passion for injury prevention. And they often say, if kids were dying at this rate that they're dying from gun violence, if they were dying at this rate from anything else, like a disease or anything like that, there would be an uproar in this country," Dr. Clukies said. "And so I think it's really important to think about it as a public health epidemic, because that's how we are going to solve it."
Dr. Clukies said she thinks politicians aren't taking action because it's a touchy subject for many constituents. However, she said she thinks it doesn't have to be such a divisive issue.
"People have a right to have guns — that is fact. However, from the medical perspective, we think about the subject as not being taboo, we think about the subject of safety as prevention," she said. "People are allowed to have guns, how can we do it in a safe manner? And specifically, how can we focus on how we can protect our children and keep them safe?"
Dr. Clukies pointed out that when other objects are the cause of killing children, action is swiftly taken.
In 2017, there was a change and the CDC published data that motor vehicles were previously the number one cause of death for children," she said. "And we have worked for decades to decrease motor vehicle accidents with seatbelts and different safety street laws and media releases on drunk driving and things like that. And we've been so successful treating it with prevention, but we haven't had the same success with firearm injuries."
Dr. Clukies shared how she and other doctors at SLCH have conversations about firearm safes with parents in a non-judgmental way, and what it's like treating children who have been shot.
