Firearm injury continues to plague our country and potential solutions remain a high profile topic in the national debate. While gun control is clearly a polarizing issue, other approaches to this public health problem may allow us (and perhaps other academic medical organizations) to lead an effort to find a common ground so that progress can be made in addressing firearm violence. American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS COT) leadership and the Injury Prevention Committee have spearheaded an effort to work together and improve the quality of the conversation around how best to reduce firearm injury.
Recommendations from the ACS COT FAST Workgroup Chicago Consensus I
Journal of the American College of Surgeons, February 2019 (Open Access)
The COT’s consensus-based approach to firearm injury: An introduction
Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons, October 2017
Principal Investigators: Avery Nathens, MD, PhD, MPH, FACS, FRCPSC, and Deborah Kuhls, MD, FACS, FCCM
Co-Investigators: Fred Rivara, MD, MPH, and Ashley Hink, MD, MPH
The ACS COT was awarded a grant from the National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research (NCGVR) to study individual and community level risk factors for all firearm injuries treated at TQIP centers. The study aims to understand the circumstances and risk factors of adult and pediatric firearm injuries to identify potential future prevention interventions, and to develop national estimates on the incidence of firearm injuries in the US.
Informational Webinar 9/21/2020
Informational Webinar 9//21/2020 Slides
Informational Webinar 9/21/2020 – Q&A
Study Registration Form—Registration for the study is now closed.
The Gun Safety and Your Health brochure from the ACS COT is intended for patients and the general public, and offers tips on how you can keep your families and communities safe from firearm injuries and death. Our hope is that all health care providers will make this brochure available to your patients as an opportunity to engage them in discussions around firearm injury prevention and safety.
Gun Safety and Your Health (online viewing)
Providers are encouraged to download our press-quality versions and use a printing service to disseminate hard copies of this brochure.
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Fill out our form to download the brochure version that allows you to brand with your own logo.
A group from the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma’s (ACS COT) Injury Prevention and Control Committee was tasked with outlining a comprehensive approach to institute a sustainable hospital-based violence intervention program (HVIP). Below is a step-wise guide to establishing a working HVIP. It describes what is necessary to run a program at minimum, and is followed by an additional piece on resources for a “dream” program. It is intended to guide fledgling programs and perhaps save new programs from the pitfalls that often accompany this difficult work.
A group from the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma’s (ACS COT) Injury Prevention and Control Committee was tasked with outlining a comprehensive approach to institute a sustainable hospital-based violence intervention program (HVIP). Below is a step-wise guide to establishing a working HVIP. It describes what is necessary to run a program at minimum, and is followed by an additional piece on resources for a “dream” program. It is intended to guide fledgling programs and perhaps save new programs from the pitfalls that often accompany this difficult work.
HVIP Primer (abbreviated version)
Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons, October 2017
HVIP Slideset Template—Gather support from your stakeholders
Organ Fellowship recipient reports on HVIP best practices
Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons, October 2017
The survey is designed to evaluate ACS COT member attitudes about firearm ownership, freedom, responsibility, physician-patient freedom, and policy with the objective of using survey results to inform firearm injury prevention policy. The following slides and accompanying document summarize the results.
COT Firearms Injury Prevention Slideset
Summary of Final Survey Results Handout: COT Firearms Injury Prevention Survey
Survey of the ACS Board of Governors on firearm injury prevention: Consensus and opportunities
Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons, October 2017
Firearm-Related Injury and Death in the United States: A Call to Action From 8 Health Professional Organizations and the American Bar Association
Annals of Internal Medicine, April 2015
Letter to the Editor: Stopping the Bleeding Is Not Enough
Annals of Surgery, August 2017
Special Session on Firearm Injury Prevention: Transforming Survey Results into Action
Clinical Congress News, October 2016
Freedom with Responsibility: A Consensus Strategy for Preventing Injury, Death, and Disability from Firearm Violence
Journal of the American College of Surgeons, April 2018
Survey of American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma members on firearm injury: Consensus and opportunities
Journal of Trauma Acute Care Surgery, February 2017
Survey of American College of Surgeons Members on Firearm Injury Prevention
Journal of the American College of Surgeons, September 2021
Strategies for Trauma Centers to Address the Root Causes of Violence: Recommendations from the Improving Social Determinants to Attenuate Violence (ISAVE) Workgroup of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma
Journal of the American College of Surgeons, September 2021