The AP (10/29, Tanner) reports, “Gun injuries, including many from assaults, sent 75,000 U.S. children and teens to emergency” departments (EDs) “over nine years at a cost of almost $3 billion,” researchers concluded in “a first-of-its-kind study.” The study revealed that “11 of every 100,000 children and teens treated in U.S.” EDs “have gun-related injuries,” amounting “to about 8,300 kids each year.” The findings, which were published online in a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics, “highlight that gun violence involving kids extends beyond mass shootings that gain the most attention, said Dr. Robert Sege, co-author of an American Academy of Pediatrics gun injuries policy.” Dr. Sege had no involvement in the study.
HealthDay (10/29, Preidt) reports, “Males were five times more likely than females to be treated for gunshot wounds, and the rate was highest among males aged 15 to 17, at nearly 86” ED “visits per 100,000 people,” investigators found. The principal “causes of gunshot wounds were assault (49 percent), unintentional injuries (39 percent) and suicide (two percent).”
Related Links:
— “Gun-Related Injuries Send More Than 8,000 Kids a Year to the Emergency Room: Study, “Lindsey Tanner, AP, October 29, 2018.