SAFE
Those who donate $150+ will receive SAFE Scrub ...
Those who donate $150+ will receive SAFE Scrub as a token of our appreciation

Those who donate $150+ will receive SAFE Scrub as a token of our appreciation

Gun Violence is an epidemic. December is a month where many people donate to non-profits. Please add SAFE to your list. If you donate $150 or more, please include your scrub size (XS - XXL) in the "additional notes" section and we will mail you a SAFE scrub as a token of our appreciation.

Your donation to support SAFE will allow as to:

* Make firearm injury prevention education a priority at every United States medical school.

* Be the leading source of medical education materials on effective ways to teach firearm injury prevention strategies to medical students.

* Provide current and future healthcare clinicians the skills necessary to engage patients, communities, local, and national legislators on public health driven solutions for firearm injury prevention.

* Develop a robust research wing of SAFE to establish evidence-based best practices for medical student firearm prevention education.

A Monthly Donation of $83.34 for 12 months = $1,000 for the year.

Suggested donation for medical students is $5/month. Thank you!

All future healthcare workers must have the education, research and communication tools they need to keep their patients safe from gun violence.

Registration open for Spring 2025 Stand SAFE Virtual Event

DATE: Tuesday, March 11, 8 PM ET/5 PM PT

Description: Our esteemed guest will be Dr. Cedric Dark, who will be talking about his recent book "Under the Gun - An ER Doctor's Cure for America's Gun Epidemic". Dr. Dark is a graduate of Morehouse College, earned his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine, and holds a master’s degree from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. He completed his residency training at George Washington University where he served as Chief Resident. Currently, Dr. Dark is an Assistant Professor in the Henry J. N. Taub Department of Emergency Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

While registering for the free event IS required, reading the book in advance is not. However, we hope you pick up a copy and add it to your reading list before March 11. It is an excellent book that you can purchase directly from the publisher.

All are welcome. If you cannot attend on March 11, register anyway so you will be able to watch and listen after the event at your convenience.

9/25/2024: California passes a required secure firearm storage law

California’s SB 53 requires firearm possessors to securely store their firearms whenever the firearm is not in their immediate control. Congratulations to all the healthcare providers, especially Dr. Susie MacLean, a retired physician from California, who has been advocating for this in her role as a Board Member at SAFE and as a member of the Silicon Valley Alliance for Gun Safety.

Previously, California only had a Child-Access Prevention, or CAP law. 

Governor Gavin Newsom signed a host of other laws hoping to further reduce firearm harm summarized in this press release:
https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/09/24/governor-newsom-signs-bipartisan-legislation-to-strengthen-californias-gun-laws/

Learn more about the firearm storage law SB 53: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB53

Watch "Advocacy in Action" SAFE virtual event co-hosted with This Is Our Lane and Brady

Dr. Sandy McKay and Dr. Joe Sakran co-facilitate an event designed to educate healthcare providers on advocacy, using safe firearm storage as a key example. Attendees will gain insights into healthcare advocacy, understand the mechanisms and importance of safe firearm storage and Child Access Prevention (CAP) laws, and learn how to effectively engage and educate lawmakers using a public health approach.

To review resources to help you take action, click here: https://bradyunited.app.box.com/s/5civpxz2c0lsvpidesvacoy9wv9lv4wr

"Since I Last Saw You" - a moving tribute by a resident physician on gun violence

Since i last saw you your heart has beat 20 million times. Your lungs have taken 5 million breaths. Your eyes have been open for thousands of hours.

When we went into your room every morning on rounds nobody talked much. There wasn't much to say. Not much changed from day to day. Yyou weren't getting better but you weren't getting worse. We watched your heart beating on the monitor over your left shoulder. We listened to the ventilator humming in the background, watched your chest rise and fall rhythmically with it.

Your family asked about the plan every day as we left the pediatric ICU. Visitors weren't allowed in the unit. Your dad wanted to know specific lab values, how your sodium trended overnight, how high your lactate was, if you were still on pressers. Your mom just wanted to know if you'd opened your eyes yet. Your little sister asked if she'd ever be able to hug her older brother again.

A few days after your admission i saw your parents meeting with the organ donation team. They'd had the conversation we'd all been thinking about since you were first admitted to the hospital. It was the direction we knew things were going in but there was a certain finality seeing them sitting there after being stuck in limbo for so long. Your parents were the ones to request the meeting. The medical team hadn't brought it up yet. They asked about who is eligible to become a donor, they asked if the gunshot wound would prevent you from becoming a donor, they asked about what organs you'd be able to donate, and they asked if they would ever be able to meet the recipients.

The organ procurement happened a couple days later and was successful. your heart, both lungs, your corneas, as well as your liver, kidneys, and small intestines have new homes.

Since i last saw you your heart has beat 20 million times, your lungs have taken 5 million breaths, your eyes have been open for thousands of hours. But you will never feel your heart beat against your chest again. You will never catch your breath when you step outside and breathe in cold winter's air. You'll never see another sunset.

In medicine, we are far too familiar with stories that don't have happy endings - where the ends don't justify the means. We put everything we have on the table and still get beat. Sometimes we do everything right and we still lose. Other times there's nothing left to do because the game is already over. We expect stories that don't have happy endings as part of the game.

Since i last saw you, I've been thinking about the silver lining in your story. Even though it was the worst day of your parents lives, other families got the call that after months or years of waiting their kid was finally going to get a new heart, a new lung a new kidney. By choosing in that time of immeasurable grief and heartbreak to share your heart with strangers, they kept your story going. Your story did not end that day. Every one of those 20 million heartbeats is physical evidence of that. I can't tell you that your story had a happy ending. I can't tell you that since i last saw you we've put a stop to gun violence because since I last saw you almost 900 other children have been killed by guns in the US. I can't tell you that we've finally woken up to the fact that even living in a home with a gun triples one's risk of dying by one and that those who buy firearms for safety are often doing more harm than good. Because since I last saw you five million more homes have guns in them.

I can't tell you that your story had a happy ending but i can tell you that your story isn't over yet.

Clinicians and Firearms: Request a Course Distribution Packet

Please send an email to info@standsafe.org or to avolkman@standsafe.org to request a distribution packet.

Health care professionals serve a vital role in preventative health. Discussing firearm safety habits with patients has been shown to improve patient safety by increasing the number of firearms that are kept locked and unloaded in homes. However, due to a lack of training, physicians often do not feel comfortable counseling patients and families regarding safe ownership of guns.

According to the CDC, gun violence remains a major cause of death and injury in the United States. Although physicians are frequently tasked with treating firearm injuries in acute care trauma settings and promoting injury prevention at primary care clinics, only a minority of medical education programs have dedicated curricula addressing firearm violence. It is well known that medical school curricula are overcrowded, limiting the ability for programs to introduce updated content. However, medical students recognize the importance of this focus in their training to become physicians; demand for firearm injury prevention education remains high. 

We created the “Clinicians and Firearms” curriculum to be readily adopted into pre-existing programming. It is newly re-designed around guidelines for technical standards outlined by M.D. and D.O. programs throughout the United States. Competencies defined by the AAMC’s Physician Competency Reference Set (PCRS) and individual programs were referenced during development. Although the course is intended to be completed in its entirety, individual components can be treated as stand-alone to best accommodate program scheduling and goals.

Our Distribution packet includes:

  • Course Overview

  • Course Marketing

  • CME

  • Instructions

  • Evaluation

  • Asset Library

  • Additional Resources

    Please send an email to info@standsafe.org or to avolkman@standsafe.org to request a distribution packet.

"Clinicians and Firearms"

Click “Start Course” and you will have a chance to read more about the course and who created it before clicking “Continue”.

Although the course is intended to be completed in its entirety (approximately 90 minutes), individual components can be treated as stand-alone to best accommodate program scheduling and goals.

SAFE created the Clinicians and Firearms curriculum to be readily adopted into pre-existing programming. It is newly re-designed around guidelines for technical standards outlined by M.D. and D.O. programs throughout the United States. Competencies defined by the AAMC’s Physician Competency Reference Set (PCRS) and individual programs were referenced during development.

Connecting your SAFE Chapter with the Local Community!

We are eager to introduce a new initiative aimed at enhancing our collective impact on community gun violence. This endeavor focuses on forging stronger connections between SAFE chapters based at medical schools in cities heavily affected by gun violence, particularly amongst black and brown communities, with local nonprofits dedicated to supporting the most vulnerable.

Our goal is to cultivate meaningful partnerships between our chapters and community-led organizations. Through this collaboration, we aspire to create opportunities that will enrich healthcare providers' understanding of how to engage with and support individuals from marginalized communities facing the brunt of gun violence.

We believe that by uniting our efforts with local nonprofits, we can drive profound and positive change. For more information or to explore how your chapter can participate in this initiative, please contact our intern, Hailey Ramzan (hramzan@stanford.edu), who is ready to provide support and guidance.

Together, let’s forge a path to healing, justice, and lasting impact. Your involvement can be the catalyst for a safer future for all.

White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention conversation rescheduled for May 3 @ 2 PM ET

This is a rescheduled event from April 3, and is one of SAFE’s two annual events that are open to all clinicians and trainees who are committed to learning more about SAFE’s work to embed gun violence prevention education into the curriculum of all healthcare institutions.

After getting a glimpse of SAFE's updated education modules and how you can help reach our goal of embedding gun violence prevention education into 100% of our country's medical schools, you will hear Dr. Dean Winslow, SAFE Co-Founder and Professor of Medicine at Stanford Medical School and Christopher Zaro, 3rd year medical student from UMass School of Medicine, speak with Greg Jackson, who serves as Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and a survivor of gun violence.

All are welcome. Hosted by SAFE

Sponsored by The Center for Violence Prevention at the University of Texas Health in Houston.

Registration link: https://shorturl.at/ktvA3

SAFE partners with Be SMART

SAFE has forged a partnership with Be SMART, a program of Everytown for Gun Safety’s Support Fund. SAFE Chapters across the country have an opportunity to team with a local Be SMART chapter up to help educate your medical school community about the gun violence epidemic. You can receive support in planning an early Fall SAFE Chapter event at your medical school, focusing on the importance of secure storage education for all clinicians.

Take 30 seconds to share when you are free for a 15-20 minute call with a local Be SMART leader.

The 27th IVAT (Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma) Summit in San Diego

The 27th IVAT (Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma) Summit in San Diego this week addresses several topics related to the scourge of gun violence in our society.  On Sunday, August 28, SAFE participated in Taming an Escalating, Out-of-Control Epidemic:  Gun Violence Prevention as a Public Health Priority.  Topics covered ranged from the escalation in interpersonal violence and firearm purchases during the Covid pandemic and the alarming rise in mass shootings to advances in medical training and suicide prevention.  Progress on recent legislation dedicating much-needed resources to gun violence research was highlighted as well.

Pictured, left to right, Dr. Michael Levittan, moderator; Nicole Finney, UC Irvine School of Medicine, SAFE Chapter UCI and HEAL-IM Scholar; Arvis Jones, MT, MA, Grief and Loss Specialist, Linda Cavazos, Survivor Lead - Moms Demand Action Nevada and John McKenna, Executive Director SAFE.

John McKenna with Nicole Finney and Jessica Sea, SAFE medical students, UCI Chapter. 

Dr. Michael Levittan, IVAT Global Peace and Gun Violence Prevention Advisor with John McKenna