Trauma Lecture Tackles Gun Violence in America Skip to main content Close Select your preferred language English عربى 简体中文 繁體中文 فارسي עִברִית 日本語 한국어 Русский Español Tagalog Menu Close Call 1-800-CEDARS-1 toggle search form Close Los Angeles, 19 August 2019 16:29 PM America/Los_Angeles Trauma Lecture Tackles Gun Violence in America Joseph V. Sakran, MD, joined Daniel R. Margulies, MD, and Heidi Hotz, RN, for a presentation on gun violence as a public health issue. Photo by Cedars-Sinai. "I can't begin talking about this public health crisis that we are facing in America without telling you my own story," said Joseph V. Sakran, MD, MPH, MPA, associate chief of Acute Care Surgery at The John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, at the start of a special program about public health and gun violence. His story begins when he was 17 and was shot in the throat. But it doesn't end there. Being a victim of gun violence "is what inspired me to go into medicine, it's what inspired me to become a trauma surgeon and it's why I work at that intersection of medicine, public health and public policy," Sakran said. "To try to do everything that we can to reduce firearm-related injury or death in America." The Cedars-Sinai Trauma Program in the Department of Surgery invited Sakran to share his personal story to help educate physicians about gun violence. "The goal of this bimonthly lecture is to offer all staff education that pertains to current events and trauma," said Heidi Hotz, RN, Trauma Program manager, to a room filled with a range of healthcare professionals who had come to hear Sakran's lecture, "Gun Violence in America: A Public Health Crisis." With more than 300 people being shot-and 100 killed-in the U.S. every day, gun violence has become an epidemic, Sakran said. But he says it's an epidemic that is curable if everyone plays a role. "We are becoming complacent in letting these acts of violence happen, we need to find more solutions," said Daniel R. Margulies, MD, director of Trauma-Emergency Surgery and Surgical Critical Care at Cedars-Sinai. For Sakran, complacency is not an option. In his example, between 1960 and 1970 there was an ongoing rise in motor vehicle fatalities. "We didn't get rid of cars," Sakran said. "We came up with seat belts, airbags and we made roads safer and the fatality rates came down." While the solution to minimizing gun violence may not be obvious now, Sakran said that if we look at the crisis from a public health perspective, years from now, future generations can look back and say, "We didn't get rid of guns. We came up with a way to make the world a safer place." Read more on the Cedars-Sinai Blog: Art Therapy Helps Children Cope with Trauma Related Stories RSS feed - Related Stories (opens in new window) View all headlines - Related Stories From Guam With Heart February 07, 2022 06:00 AM America/Los_Angeles People in love often say two hearts beat as one, and the hearts of Tom and Therese Mazzei are definitely in sync. When 59-year-old Tom Mazzei traveled from Guam to the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai for treatment, Therese Mazzei, his wife of … Read more Show Your Love Nominate a Cedars-Sinai Nurse February 16, 2021 06:02 AM America/Los_Angeles Like every nurse at the Ruth and Harry Roman Emergency Department at Cedars-Sinai, Hannah Jaruszewski, RN, is skilled at treating patients–from starting an IV and assisting during an emergency procedure to sending patients home with clear … Read more COVID-19 Recovery at Home Possible for Most Patients October 12, 2020 06:00 AM America/Los_Angeles A new study shows that the vast majority of patients who visited the Ruth and Harry Roman Emergency Department at Cedars-Sinai with suspected COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) symptoms, and who were treated and sent home to recuperate, recovered within a … Read more Show previous items Show next items Contact the Media Team Email: [email protected] Contact Melissa VizcarraSenior Communications Specialist melissa.vizcarra@cshs.org Share this release Trauma Lecture Tackles Gun Violence in America Share on: Twitter Share on: Facebook Share on: LinkedIn Search Our Newsroom Social media Visit our Facebook page (opens in new window) Follow us on Twitter (opens in new window) Visit our Youtube profile (opens in new window) (opens in new window) Latest news 07 Oct 2022 - HealthDay: Black Women Less Likely to Get Laparoscopic Fibroid Surgeries 07 Oct 2022 - Faculty Publications: Sept. 29-Oct. 6 07 Oct 2022 - Fine-Tuning Organ-Chip Technology 06 Oct 2022 - KCRW: Want New Omicron Booster? Wait at Least 2 Months After Last Shot 05 Oct 2022 - Cedars-Sinai Schedules Free Flu Vaccine Clinics 04 Oct 2022 - Cedars-Sinai Showcases Hispanic and Latinx Art Newsroom Home