Emergency Physicians' Familiarity with the Safe Handling of Firearms.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Emergency physicians (EP) experience high rates of workplace violence, the risks of which increase with the presence of weapons. Up to 25% of trauma patients brought to the emergency department (ED) have been found to carry weapons. Given these risks, we conducted an educational needs assessment to characterize EPs' knowledge of firearms, frequency of encountering firearms in the ED, and level of confidence with safely removing firearms from patient care settings.

Methods

This was a survey study of attending and resident EPs at two academic and four community hospitals in the Midwest and Northeast. A 26-item questionnaire was emailed to all EPs at the six institutions. Questions pertained to EPs' knowledge of firearms, experience with handling firearms, and expo

SUBMITTER: Ketterer AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6324699 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature