First Response: How Gun Violence Impacts Medical Professionals

Northwest Reports

In the first episode of our three-part podcast series, two surgeons, a nurse and a paramedic describe the impact of seeing gun violence up close.

Medical professionals in Washington have gotten used to treating people affected by gun violence -- especially in recent years.

A few months ago, the U.S. Surgeon General declared gun violence a public health crisis at a time when tens of thousands of Americans are dying from firearm-related injuries. This trend is hard to ignore at a place like Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, the only Level 1 Trauma Center in Washington.

In the first episode of First Response, we speak to medical professionals at the hospital, as well as a King County paramedic, about what this rise in gun violence looks like on the ground – and the impact it has on them.

Many of these medical professionals aren’t desensitized to gun violence. In fact, it’s quite the opposite: Instead of just responding to the immediate aftermath of a gunshot, health care workers at Harborview want to treat the long-term impact of firearm violence – and, they hope, prevent it from happening in the first place.

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Credits

Host/Producer: Maleeha Syed and Sara Bernard

Reporters: : Maleeha Syed and Sara Bernard

Story editor: Ryan Famuliner

Executive producer: Sarah Menzies

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