Dr. Chethan Sathya

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DR. SATHYA: My name is Dr. Chethan Sathya.

SUPER: Dr. Chethan Sathya Surgeon, Pediatric Trauma Northwell Cohen Children’s Medical Center

DR. SATHYA: I’m a pediatric surgeon, Trauma Director here at Cohen’s Children Hospital and the Director of the Northwell Health Center for Gun Violence Prevention. 

My first week on the job we treated a six-month-old baby with a bullet wound. And all I could see were the parents and their expressions and the impact that that had on the entire trauma team. That child survived but is paralyzed. 

How can we not care about this? We have seen hundreds of kids with gun shot injuries. 

Every family always thinks they can’t believe that this happened to them. Firearms are the #1 cause of death among kids and its not getting better. But we know that health care workers can make a huge difference. This is why prevention is absolutely critical. Firearm injury prevention conversations should not be difficult. This is a health care issue. That fundamental shift in thinking is absolutely critical to be able to actually start having these conversations. It’s really no different than other guidance that we give. 

Ensuring that we center all our conversations in an empathetic way is absolutely essential. 

Every one of our patients and community members will have a unique point of view on this topic. We have to meet them where they are. No one is right or wrong. You know your communities best.

We also screen for and provide resources for those who are at risk of community violence. We are able to ask those questions and provide resources from credible messengers who work in the system – these are folks with lived experience – and who are able to meet these families at the point of care to help stop that cycle of violence.

A lot of it has to do with not only empathetic conversations but providing families, children, your patients hope. It doesn’t matter what type of health care provider you are – all families and patients are at risk. This absolutely impacts all communities across the country.

It starts with listening to the community, leaning in on those conversations, to better inform what is the approach that you want to take. You are the champions for change. You can be the catalyst for integrating firearm injury prevention strategies into your practice and really benefitting your community.

Let’s agree to agree that we all have a role to play in ending this crisis.

SUPER: AgreeToAgree.org/HealthCare 

LOGOS: Agree to Agree, American Medical Association, and the Ad Council