EAST news | 2018 Issue 4 4 EAST Firearm Injury Prevention Statement As eloquently described by President Bernard, we currently live in trying times. Over the past year, the Injury Control and Violence Prevention Committee (ICVP) has been working to give our organization a voice in the space of Firearm Injury Prevention. Specifically, we felt that a position statement that represented the views of the organization would be important to develop considering the public health crisis we face as a nation. The discussions that took place over nearly 12 months extended the spectrum of personal conversations with EAST members to special Board meetings that focused on hashing out all the potentially important perspectives related to this issue. In addition, we made sure that diverse sets of views were included in this process comprising both gun and non- gun owners, early and late career, civilian and military personnel. The process went through discussion and approval within the Firearm Injury Prevention Task Force, ICVP Committee, and the EAST Board of Directors. In preparation for release of the newly approved 2018 position statement on Firearm Injury Prevention, the EAST staff found that EAST had published an organizational statement on firearm injury in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery in February 1995 - Violence in America: A Public Health Crisis – the Role of Firearms The Violence Prevention Task Force of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma - February 1995 - Volume 38 - Issue 2 - p 163-168. The EAST Board and ICVP Committee have had the opportunity to review both statements. It was clear to us that these statements were vastly different. We felt that it would be important in the spirit of transparency to not just release the newly approved statement, but to ensure that members also had the opportunity to review the prior statement. The 2018 statement has been published ahead of print by the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. While the Board has already approved the new statement, we welcome any input you may have regarding the process and/or where we currently stand as an organization with respect to firearm injury prevention. It is no surprise that we feel the medical community, especially those of us that care for the injured patient must have a voice in this conversation. Over the past several weeks we have seen the unification of healthcare professionals nationwide as it relates to being a critical group of stakeholders in providing solutions to reduce firearm injury and death in this country. The response that we have seen through the medical community demonstrates now more than ever the importance of ensuring we have a strong voice that is collegial and engages stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives. Regardless of whether you happen to be on the ICVP Committee or not, we hope that you will reach out to us with your thoughts and ideas as to how best we can continue driving this conversation forward. Marie L. Crandall, MD, MPH, Chair, EAST Firearm Injury Prevention Task Force Joseph V. Sakran, MD, MPH, MPA, Chair, EAST Injury Control and Violence Prevention Committee