Across history, physicians have been on the front lines of public health crises. As we bear witness to tragedy, we also work to find solutions. We are willing to toil in anonymity, risk illness and injury, and miss dinners and bedtimes at home, for the sake of our patients. What we have never—and will never—accept is being told that a public health issue is not our issue. Why did the physician community react so strongly[1] to the NRA’s tweet on November 6, telling us to “stay in our lane”? Because, simply, we know that this is our work.
We—the authors of this piece—are both emergency physicians. Treating gunshot wounds is the daily bread and butter of not just our specialty but also that of trauma surgeons, nurses, respiratory therapists, social workers and emergency medicine technicians. In small quiet waiting rooms across the country, we and our colleagues deliver the brutal news of the loss of a loved family member to a gun. We bear witness to the family grief, the stunned tears, the angry shouts and—worse—the quiet silence. We clean up from the aftermath of a failed trauma resuscitation. We attempt to treat the permanent physical and psychological scars borne by survivors of firearm injury, and the guilt of those who felt they could have stopped it.
Daily, we talk to our patients about their grief, their safety, their healing; and we talk about how to stay safe in high-risk situations. We, more than anyone, see the effects of the gun violence epidemic. We, more than anyone, treat its aftermath.
The recent #ThisIsOurLane tweets have not only overwhelmed hashtag analytics. The raw stories contained in the tweets illustrate the profound effect of gun violence on our patients, our
