How Families Can Help Prevent Firearm Injuries in Children
Key Takeaways:
- OhioHealth experts emphasize that many child firearm injuries are preventable through safe storage practices, including keeping firearms locked and ammunition stored separately.
- Creating multiple layers of protection, including secure storage and ongoing firearm safety conversations with children, can significantly reduce the risk of accidental shootings.
- Firearm incidents can leave lasting emotional and psychological effects on children, making prevention critical for both physical and mental well-being.
A recent accidental shooting of a young girl in Columbus, Ohio, is bringing renewed attention to firearm safety around children. While many incidents can happen in seconds, there are many preventive steps that can be taken to avoid injuries.
"In trauma care, it's probably the hardest thing when you're treating injuries that are ones that could have been completely prevented," Dr. Keshav Deshpande, a trauma surgeon at OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, told NBC4.
Firearm injuries can be especially serious for children because the energy carried by a bullet can have a greater impact on smaller bodies.
Unsecured firearms can also cause harm beyond physical wounds. "That emotional trauma of an injured child can last a lifetime. It carries with them into being an adult. You can see things in children, like nightmares, anxiety, even, like, regression, like bedwetting, and for the ones that are not even involved in getting hurt, just that survivor's guilt can play a big role if there's multiple kids in the area," Deshpande said.
Creating multiple layers of protection around firearms is critical for parents/guardians at home.
Firearms should be locked in a place where children cannot access them, and ammunition should be placed in a secure location separate from the firearm. It is also important to have conversations about never touching or playing with a gun and reporting any encounter with one to a trusted adult.
Deshpande describes this approach as "triple prevention," emphasizing the importance of creating several barriers between children and firearms. Taking these extra steps can reduce the likelihood of a child gaining access to a firearm and help prevent serious injuries.
OhioHealth also continues to support "Agree to Agree," an Ad Council initiative that brings together healthcare, business and community leaders around the shared goal of preventing youth gun violence. The campaign focuses on finding common ground and providing practical steps families can take to protect children and teens from firearm injuries and death.
As part of the initiative, OhioHealth is helping bring safety education and prevention efforts to surrounding communities. By encouraging safe storage, open conversations and multiple layers of protection, Agree to Agree aims to give families tools to prevent firearm injuries before they happen.
For more information on the "Agree to Agree" effort and to access resources such as conversation guides and shareable graphics that educate and empower audiences to take individual steps to protect communities and children, visit AgreeToAgree.org
