ACS COT hosts inaugural Medical Summit on Firearm Injury Prevention

Representatives of 43 professional medical and injury prevention organizations and the American Bar Association met February 10–11 for the inaugural Medical Summit on Firearm Injury Prevention. Hosted by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS COT), the summit brought together national health care and legal leaders committed to reducing firearm-related deaths, injuries, and disabilities. The purpose of the conference was to foster an inclusive and collegial dialogue on how to work together to identify opportunities for the medical community to reach a consensus-based, apolitical approach to firearm injury prevention, with a focus on understanding and addressing the root causes of firearm violence while making firearm ownership as safe as possible.

Distinguished guest speakers from the fields of trauma surgery, emergency medicine, pediatrics, mental health, and community health addressed the breadth of issues that contribute to the escalating public health problem. Summit attendees identified opportunities to collaborate in the areas of research, education, and targeted injury prevention initiatives. Using a public health framework, attendees engaged in collegial discussions to build consensus on actionable items for firearm injury prevention that the group could support as a unified voice.

As a next step, actionable items from the summit will be compiled by the planning committee and soon will be disseminated to attendees for their organizations’ further internal consideration.

Proceedings from the inaugural Medical Summit on Firearm Injury Prevention will be published and publicly released this spring. View a complete listing of the organizations that participated in the summit.