Our cities are in danger. We can and must save them. Here in Baltimore, police have reported him more than 665 shootings so far in 2022. That’s an average of 88 shootings per month, up 12% from the same period last year. The situation is the same across the country, and I fear that the sheer number of shootings and murders has numbed the public. Each victim of violence is a person with a family. Gun violence, in many cases, forever changes not just a person’s life, but the lives of their families as well.
Clinical staff at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore struggle to keep people alive as violence escalates. Imagine having to tell your family that you lost a loved one. Imagine the joy of saving someone’s life. Only to see them brought back to shock his trauma in a vicious cycle of violence. This serious public health problem requires innovative public health solutions. We must identify the root causes of violence and undertake multi-year strategies to end it. Arresting violent people and limiting the availability and lethality of guns on the streets may be part of the solution, but they alone are not the answer.
Violence is also an economic problem. Without safe cities, we cannot support viable communities and strong businesses. Most importantly, we must protect our children, the next generation of teachers, scientists, entrepreneurs and leaders.
Unless we find ways to prevent violence with durable, science-based solutions, the situation will continue to worsen. Luckily, we know we can find a solution.
The process for improving trauma care was formed 50 years ago when Maryland developed the first trauma system in the United States. The Maryland Emergency Medical Services Systems Institute now serves as a national model for critical care. And with the knowledge and experience we have gained, we have been able to establish effective trauma centers around the world.
We can do the same for violence prevention. It will take generations of work to end this epidemic of violence, but by adopting an approach backed by real-world, evidence-based research, we can improve the lives of children and families in the most vulnerable communities. I’m sure you can change that.
This was seen in a 10-year partnership with the University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB)’s B’more for Healthy Babies program. This reduced her infant mortality rate by 75% in Baltimore and her deaths per 1,000 live births to 3.8. Vulnerable Upton and Druid Heights districts. That’s lower than her 4.4%, which is the citywide infant mortality rate. This result is directly tied to years of local investment, research, outreach and education.
Similarly, our CURE Scholars Program (in partnership with the National Cancer Institute) is overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles facing children in the West Baltimore area. Our team of parents, schools, mentors, and community organizations guides middle and high school children on the rewarding path of higher education and her STEM career.
And find solutions to violence at the new UMB Violence Prevention Center. Our extensive community support programs in West Baltimore put us in a unique position to take an interdisciplinary approach with professionals already working in the community. We can draw on experts from the School of Social Work, the School of Medicine and the Francis King Carey School of Law to shock and traumatize people who deal with the aftermath of violence every day.
With the launch of $2 million in funding, our new center is committed to long-term investments in preventing violence. We work with our community partners to develop a holistic understanding of the role criminal justice, public health and social capital play. We need to take a closer look at personal risk factors, how conflicts are resolved, and the impact of lack of financial opportunity. Understanding how we can intervene early and throughout the lives of citizens to prevent violence and address the needs of victims requires a collaborative and scientific approach.
We will continue to have the same sense of urgency and commitment that we championed in Shock Trauma to save the lives of victims of violence. But without our sense of urgency to prevent violence as a society, this crisis will only get worse, more families will be affected, more people will die, and our cities and communities will not thrive. .
The new UMB Violence Prevention Center is working with community leaders and others to find solutions to end the vicious cycle of violence. We must all work together to pave the way for a better Baltimore, a better Maryland, and a better America.
Dr. Bruce E. Jarrell ([email protected]) is president of the University of Maryland Baltimore. Dr. Thomas M. Scalea ([email protected]) is the hong. Francis X. Kelly Distinguished Professor of Trauma Surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center He is Chief Physician of R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center.
