“About 40,000 Americans die and 85,000 others are injured each year from firearm-related causes, and the incidence of firearm-related morbidity and mortality has increased over the past decade,” Safeek said. “This is a very important public health issue. My classmates, colleagues and I believe that physicians have a role in counseling patients related to their health and we have an opportunity through those interactions to help reduce the number of firearm-related deaths and injuries.”

In September, Safeek and her colleagues wrote and presented a resolution that was adopted by the Kentucky Medical Association (KMA) to support training in Kentucky’s medical schools to reduce firearm-related morbidity and mortality in their curriculum. She presented a similar resolution at the American Medical Association conference in November, which was adopted by the American Medical Association Medical Student Section.

The resolution calls for all future physicians to have training to counsel patients in safe firearm use and storage, to know how to screen patients for suicide risk and to learn trauma-related first response techniques.

At UofL, Safeek presented a curriculum plan she coauthored with faculty members Suzanne McGee, MD, and Charles Kodner, MD, and Susan Sawning, MSSW, to the School of Medicine’s łÉČËÖ±˛Ąal Program Committee, which voted to include it in the school’s curriculum beginning with the 2020-2021 academic year.

To jump-start the training effort, Safeek and other students and faculty have partnered with to organize a week-long series of optional events to educate UofL medical students, faculty and residents on firearm violence prevention, scheduled for February.

“Our hope is that more medical schools will incorporate this type of training into their programs and doctors will be able to help make a difference in this health crisis,” Safeek said.

The University of Louisville Police Department reminds faculty, staff, and students that there are plenty of simple actions everyone can take to reduce the chances of being the victim of a crime and to make walking, biking, or driving in traffic a safer experience.

Here are 10 tips from ULPD: 

• Call 911 for all emergencies needing Police, Fire or EMS.
• If you see something, say something. We need your help keeping our campus safe. Call the University Police at 852-6111 to report suspicious activity.Ěý
• Sign up for the Rave Guardian Safety app and Rave text alerts. .Ěý
• Use the L-Trail. Walk in groups or pairs. Stop and look before crossing any street or parking lot. Don’t be too consumed with your cell phone to be unaware of your surroundings.
• Use the shuttle system. Use the ULPD campus escorts, available between dusk and dawn, at 852-6111.
• Be responsible for yourself and your belongings. Do not meet any unknown individual on or off campus to purchase or retrieve items. Always maintain control of your purse, backpack, laptop, cell phone and wallet. Remember that alcohol and drugs impair
  your system and leave you vulnerable to others and crime.
• Always lock your vehicle. Don’t leave items in view within your car.
  Store important valuables in the trunk or another secure location.
• Always lock your housing unit’s or office’s doors and windows. Know who is at the door before opening. Do not allow unapproved visitors into a locked building.
• If you’re riding a bicycle, be diligent about pedestrians and obey all traffic laws. Always lock your bicycle to a designated rack with a secure lock (we recommend a “U” lock).
• If you’re driving a vehicle, be extra considerate of pedestrians, bicycles and motorcycles. Remember that alcohol and drugs impair your system – plus, driving under the influence, no matter what the distance or time, is a serious crime.

More safety resources, including programs and classes offered by the ULPD, are .Ěý

An abstract of the study, “Effect of Fireworks Laws on Pediatric Fireworks Related Burn Injuries,” will be presented at the PAS meeting in Baltimore on May 3. Researchers looked at federal and state data from the National Inpatient Sample, with data on 8 million hospital stays each year, and the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample, which annually compiles information on 30 million discharges from emergency medicine facilities.

They determined the number of patients under age 21 treated and released by emergency departments between 2006 and 2012 rose modestly. Significantly larger increases were seen in injuries requiring inpatient hospital admission, which skyrocketed from 29 percent of cases in 2006 to 50 percent in 2012.

“The increase in fireworks-related injuries and the severity of these injuries in children since 2006 are very concerning,” said Charles Woods Jr., MD, one of the study’s authors and associate chair of pediatrics at the University of Louisville. “Although our findings do not prove a direct link to relaxations in state laws governing fireworks sales, it may be time for lawmakers to reassess this issue. Parents and caregivers of children also should be aware of these increasingly serious injuries and the potential dangers involved in allowing young children to handle and play with fireworks.”

Lead author John Myers, PhD, a researcher in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Louisville, will present the abstract, “Effect of Fireworks Laws on Pediatric Fireworks Related Burn Injuries,” at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 3 in Exhibit Hall F at the Baltimore Convention Center. The .

“Pediatric fireworks-related burn injuries have increased in incidence, apparent severity of injury, the proportion requiring hospitalization and length-of-stay in the hospital in a time period of relaxed fireworks laws in the United States,” Myers said. “These findings suggest that policy-makers should revisit current fireworks laws for the safety of children.”