Since 1960, more than 1.3 million Americans have died in firearm suicides, homicides and unintentional injuries. In 2010 alone, more than 31,000 Americans died by gunfire.



Add to those statistics the number of people who have been injured in gun violence, and the severity of the problem is clearer.

"Nobody is not at risk for gun violence; nobody is immune from interpersonal violence – gun violence or other violence," said Dr. Ronald I. Gross, chief of the Division of Trauma, Acute Care Surgery and Surgical Critical Care Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

He will lead a roundtable discussion Saturday at "Caring for the Patient at Risk for Gun Violence: Medical, Legal, Ethical Issues," the first Continuing Medical Education-accredited conference on gun violence. It will take place at The Conference Center at Waltham Woods in Waltham.

Among the roundtable participants will be two medical professionals from Baystate Medical Center: Dr. Kevin Moriarty, chief of pediatric surgery; and Ida Konderwicz, a registered nurse, pediatric trauma coordinator and adult and pediatric injury prevention coordinator.

"The populations most aware of the effects of gun violence are those affected by gun violence and those who take care of those affected," Gross said. "That would be us," the medical professionals.

Because patients entrust their doctors with their lives, they often tell doctors what they won't tell other people. "The basis of the relationship between a doctor and patient is trust," Gross said. "They can tell us if they feel threatened at home or work and don't know what to do about it."

Public health research has shown that firearms violence is directly related to firearms availability and density. And, according to the conference brochure, direct medical costs for gunshot wounds total more than $6 million a day.

"Gun violence is a public health issue; that's nothing new," Gross said. "Violence is a public health issue; gun violence is like other diseased processes that threaten our life."

He said gun violence has become so commonplace that many people seem immune to it whether they view it on a television program or on the news.

"Gun violence is a threat to all of us," Gross continued. "It affects our society, most often those at the young end of the spectrum, and takes the lives of those with promise and the chance to be productive."

But the violence cannot be looked at solely in terms of deaths. "How many hundreds of thousands have been wounded, paralyzed, crippled and are now out of the mainstream because of (gun) injuries?" the doctor asked, noting too the number of people who are victims because a loved one or family member has been the victim of gun violence.

At the conference, clinicians, researchers and other stakeholders will share case histories with the goal of developing better tools for practitioners to use in the diagnosis and treatment of patients at risk for gun violence.

Gross hopes to cull from the discussions ways to try to eliminate gun violence from society.

Asked if that is possible, he said the "Pollyanna side" of him says it is while the cynical side says that it is human nature to do violence to others.

"We need to have an attitude check in our society and look at violence for what it is and not glorify it," he said. "We need to teach our kids that violence is not acceptable no matter who perpetrates it."

Participants in the conference will learn about explaining the impact of gun violence on individuals and communities both from the clinical and public health perspectives, recognizing the symptoms and/or histories that might indicate high risk for gun violence, discussing gun violence with patients without compromising ethical or legal constraints and describing relevant resources for understanding and/or implementing referrals for additional treatment and/or legal interventions.

Gross hopes the conference will be a wake-up call to medical professionals "that we have reached a crossroads" at which gun violence is either going to get worse or be reduced. "We need to start not with the weapon but with the people holding it," he said.