Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Gun violence is our society’s disease

Leslie Mattson, MD
Policy
July 27, 2022
Share
Tweet
Share

About a month ago, I had just finished hospital rounds when I heard “code active threat” on the overhead intercom. Thinking it was a drill, I continued typing patient notes until I heard a more urgent: “Please barricade in place or, if able, evacuate the premises immediately.”

My heart raced as I quickly weighed my options: barricade myself alone in the physician lounge or run to the parking garage, risking the possibility of an active shooter in the hallway. Taking my chances, I ran out the door and joined the mass exodus of people driving away.

How has this become the new normal?

Schools with active shooter drills?

Countless tragedies at:

  • Grocery stores
  • Movie theaters
  • Concert venues
  • Hospitals
  • Airports
  • Malls
  • Places of worship

And unfortunately, more locations.

Is this the world that the writers of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights envisioned?

As a society, the sheer number of tragedies has numbed us. Now, we casually read about this, listen to eyewitness accounts and victim tributes. We empathize with families’ unanswered calls to action. This disease of gun violence has become a malignant part of our society. And because of divisive politics, it seems our country is falling apart.

“United we stand. Divided, we fall.”

Now, I look back on my childhood in the 1980s and early ’90s with nostalgia. Then, we only practiced fire and tornado drills. Back then, “peer pressure,” “say no to drugs,” and “stranger danger” were the main topics parents discussed. Today as a parent of three, I do not know where to begin. How do you tell a child that children have been killed at school? It’s absurd that this has become part of the back-to-school conversation.

That “code active threat,” we later found out, thankfully was a false alarm. Shootings nationwide have increased our vigilance. I have had conversations with nurses and doctors alike about hypothetical situations:

What to do if we find ourselves on hospital floors?

How do we evacuate or hide our patients?

Where do we hide?

ADVERTISEMENT

Where are the fastest exits?

Have you considered bulletproof clothing?

Our nation has become reactive instead of preventative. In medicine, this is not the way — only prevention is.

To screen for colon cancer, people aged 45 and above can start having colonoscopies to look for suspicious polyps. These polyps can be removed and, in some cases, prevent the development of colon cancer. Also, any male over age 65 who has ever smoked can have ultrasound screening for abdominal aortic aneurysms —in hopes of early repair to prevent death. In like manner, women aged 40 and above can start receiving mammograms in hopes of catching breast cancer early and extending life.

In the medical world, we have all these screenings to prevent horrible illnesses that can ultimately lead to death. Physicians and patients do not wait for cancer to spread to the lungs, brain, and liver, so we can reflexively treat with chemo that may or may not work.

Gun violence is our society’s disease. It has run rampant in multiple cities across America. Yet time and time again, history repeats itself: there’s a shooting, we pour over news reports, listen to witness accounts, we shake our heads in disbelief, and silently feel grateful it did not affect us.

However, we know that once a cancer spreads to lymph nodes and multiple organs, the likelihood of cure is essentially nil. The only way to combat gun violence, regardless of politics, is to remain united as a people. This is a public health emergency.

But with COVID, we know how that went.

Leslie Mattson is an internal medicine physician.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

Allow yourself the space you need to heal [PODCAST]

July 26, 2022 Kevin 0
…
Next

Health care takes its toll. Look for the moments that remind you why you're in it.

July 27, 2022 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: Public Health & Policy

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Allow yourself the space you need to heal [PODCAST]
Next Post >
Health care takes its toll. Look for the moments that remind you why you're in it.

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Leslie Mattson, MD

  • A physician’s struggle with postpartum depression

    Leslie Mattson, MD

Related Posts

  • Fight gun violence with science

    Jamie Coleman, MD
  • Gun violence in America is a national emergency

    Hussain Lalani, MD and Justin Lowenthal 
  • It’s time to seriously study gun violence

    Michael B. Bagg
  • Approach the gun violence epidemic like we do with coronavirus

    Charles Nozicka, DO
  • Let’s share our stories about gun violence

    Barbara Meyer, MD, MPH
  • Physicians should never leave the lane of gun violence

    Linda Girgis, MD

More in Policy

  • Why health care leaders fail at execution—and how to fix it

    Dave Cummings, RN
  • Healing the doctor-patient relationship by attacking administrative inefficiencies

    Allen Fredrickson
  • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

    Trevor Lyford, MPH
  • The CDC’s restructuring: Where is the voice of health care in the room?

    Tarek Khrisat, MD
  • Choosing between care and country: a dual citizen’s Independence Day reflection

    Kathleen Muldoon, PhD
  • How fragmented records and poor tracking degrade patient outcomes

    Michael R. McGuire
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
    • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • Why health care leaders fail at execution—and how to fix it

      Dave Cummings, RN | Policy
    • How digital tools are reshaping the doctor-patient relationship

      Vineet Vishwanath | Tech
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
    • Why Medicaid cuts should alarm every doctor

      Ilan Shapiro, MD | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Decoding your medical bill: What those charges really mean

      Cheryl Spang | Finance
    • The emotional first responders of aesthetic medicine

      Sarah White, APRN | Conditions
    • Why testosterone matters more than you think in women’s health

      Andrea Caamano, MD | Conditions
    • A mind to guide the machine: Why physicians must help shape artificial intelligence in medicine

      Shanice Spence-Miller, MD | Tech
    • How subjective likability practices undermine Canada’s health workforce recruitment and retention

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 3 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
    • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • Why health care leaders fail at execution—and how to fix it

      Dave Cummings, RN | Policy
    • How digital tools are reshaping the doctor-patient relationship

      Vineet Vishwanath | Tech
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
    • Why Medicaid cuts should alarm every doctor

      Ilan Shapiro, MD | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Decoding your medical bill: What those charges really mean

      Cheryl Spang | Finance
    • The emotional first responders of aesthetic medicine

      Sarah White, APRN | Conditions
    • Why testosterone matters more than you think in women’s health

      Andrea Caamano, MD | Conditions
    • A mind to guide the machine: Why physicians must help shape artificial intelligence in medicine

      Shanice Spence-Miller, MD | Tech
    • How subjective likability practices undermine Canada’s health workforce recruitment and retention

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Gun violence is our society’s disease
3 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...