WASHINGTON, June 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, leaders from the American College of Surgeons (ACS) called for bipartisan solutions to reduce the rising numbers of deaths and serious injuries that are arriving in trauma centers on a daily basis due to firearm violence.
During an ACS news conference at its Washington, DC office, surgeons outlined important attainable steps that can be taken to accelerate an effective response to reduce firearm violence.
"Firearm violence is a growing public health crisis that must be immediately addressed. This is a public health crisis, not a political debate. The American College of Surgeons is committed to crafting solutions that save lives and minimize preventable death," said ACS Executive Director, Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS. "We are unwilling to wait for another tragedy to befall another community when we believe we have a series of actions that will have an impact."
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She explained that trauma surgeons are practical problem solvers who see and live through this crisis every day treating patients who are victims of attempted suicides, homicides, and who suffer other grievous injuries from firearms. "We must be an integral part of the solution to reduce the rising number of deaths we see every year." Dr. Turner said the ACS wants to work with and educate legislators about firearm injury prevention "so that we can incorporate what we know, in a data driven way."
FAST recommendations provide common ground
The ACS Committee on Trauma convened the Firearms Strategy Team (FAST) in 2017 consisting of highly regarded trauma surgeons, many of whom are avid firearm owners. Their singular mission was to develop an effective strategy to reduce firearm injury, death, and disability. The recommendations first introduced in 2018, and renewed today, are the product of broad consensus.
The FAST recommendations cover 13 areas and include background checks; registration; licensure; firearm education and training; safe storage practices; red flag laws; addressing mental health issues; and more research to better inform an approach going forward and to help address the root causes of violence. The full-text article appears in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
"These comprehensive recommendations provide a road map to a solution and can have an immediate impact on saving lives," said Eileen M, Bulger, MD, FACS, Medical Director of ACS Trauma Programs and one of the leaders who helped develop the FAST recommendations and spelled them out at the news conference.
