ATS Participates in Medical Summit on Firearm Injury Prevention

Stuart Sweet, MD, chair, and Sharron Crowder, PhD, RN, ATSF, vice chair, Health Policy Committee, represented the ATS at the Medical Summit on Firearm Injury Prevention on Sept. 10-11. Representatives from 47 multidisciplinary medical and injury prevention professional organizations participated in the Summit such as the American College of Surgeons, American College of Physicians, the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Council of Medical Specialty Societies.

Key objectives of the Summit were to advocate for the recognition of gun violence as a public health concern and to identify elements of the most effective programs that can be implemented by physician practices, clinics, hospitals, and health systems in partnership with their communities to lower the risk of death and injury from firearms. Participating organizations committed to continued collaboration to make firearm ownership as safe as possible and address the root causes of violence in communities.

Dr. Sweet noted:

“I appreciated the opportunity to participate in this important meeting on behalf of ATS and I learned a lot about effective programs to address the public health crisis of gun-related deaths and injuries.  I look forward to working with ATS leadership to ensure that ATS and its members can contribute to these efforts in a meaningful way.”

Additional information about the meeting can be found here.