Newswise — As American as apple pie are fireworks on the 4th of July, barbeques on Memorial Day and, of course traveling to friends’ and relatives’ homes for celebrations where alcoholic drinks flow freely throughout the day. The downside of the holidays traditionally has been an increase in DUI and traffic fatalities and burn injuries from fireworks and outdoor grills. But now violence and shootings are becoming an expected part of holiday celebrations.
“I am anticipating injuries from firearms not fireworks this 4th of July,” says Thomas Esposito, MD, MPH, Chief of the Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care and Burns in the Department of Surgery at Loyola University Medical Center. “Violence has now become embedded in the very fabric of American culture.”
An estimated 86 deaths occur each day in America due to firearms. “On Father’s Day weekend there were 47 people shot and nine killed while Memorial Day saw 11 shot and six killed, in Chicago alone -- far more than those killed in traffic incidents over both holidays around the city,” said Esposito who heads the only Level I Trauma Centers in Illinois that is accredited by the American College of Surgeons.
“Unfortunately, we can likely expect the same trend to continue on July 4th as well with gunshots far exceeding injuries from fireworks and car crashes. You can imagine the havoc and consequences wrought on families, the local community, and society by this interpersonal violence,” he adds.
Esposito believes gun violence is a public health epidemic. “Violence should be treated as a disease, much the same as we are now considering obesity, or even West Nile Virus: a public health scourge!” he says.
The trauma surgeon, who also has earned a master’s degree in public health, points out that the public health approach to disease control, of any type, is multifaceted. As it applies to violence, control involves strategies applied to the potential victim, the potential assailant, the potential weapon and the environment in which they interact, either before, during, or after the violent incident. The strategies to accomplish this involve technology, education, enactment and enforcement of laws, and economic incentives and disincentives. All of these need to be applied in combination and in tandem. There is no single fix. “Just think about it, this is how we have controlled smoking” says Esposito. He recommends America take control of the entire violence event, not just focus on the gun as it seems to have done thus far, with little noticeable effect.
Alarming Gun Violence Statistics
Did you know:
· The average hospital cost for an finger or limb amputation from fireworks is $15,600; for a gunshot wound it’s $540,000.
· Hand guns account for 80 percent of gun violence.
· More than 50 percent of shootings have alcohol involved, consumed either by the victim or shooter or both.
· Of deaths from gunfire in the home, 50 percent of victims knew their murderer, with only 20 percent related to home invasions and only pne percent ruled justifiable homicides, i.e. in self defense.
“What we need is an Independence Day free from fear and sorrow of gun violence,” says Esposito. “Now that would be something to celebrate!”
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