INDIANAPOLIS — Walking through the emergency department at Riley Hospital for children you're greeted with a choreographed dance of nurses, doctors, surgeons, techs and so many other people.
Like any good dancer, every person has a job, knows what to do, where to be and how to do it.
Without thinking about it, it's natural to the medical staff.
Not that they are on autopilot, but they've trained for anything that could come into the hospital.
"Liken it to a pit stop, if I can use an analogy. That's perfect for Indianapolis," Dr. Matthew Landman said.
Landman, a general and thoracic surgeon is head of the department.
Landman said a good emergency room will treat a patient quickly and get them to where they need to be in the hospital for further treatment.
"We sometimes only have five minutes or less to prepare for what trauma we are going to see," Dr. Cory Showalter said.
Showalter, the Chief of the department, says the team is filled with hundreds of years of experience combined.
Riley is a Level 1 trauma center. One of the select few across the country.
That means they can provide the highest level of care to an emergency patient.
Which means, they get the worst of the worst traumas.
From dog bites, broken bones, to gun shot wounds, they've seen it all.
But Riley physicians say the frequency of some trauma's they're seeing in the emergency room are alarming.
"I would say that one is too many, and it certainty feels like that when we have yet another victim enter our emergency department. We're having come in two at a time," Landman said.
Landman is referring to the number of gunshot victims who have come through the hospital.
"It takes an entire hospital to take care of a patient like this." Showalter said.
The tragic trend is on the rise.
"We're seeing more and more pediatric gunshot wounds come into Riley than we have every before," Showalter said.
Riley numbers show this year is on pace to beat the all time high.
The numbers provided are broken down by two categories: violent and unintentional.
Violent meaning the shooter was intentionally being violent.
Unintentional someone got a hold of a gun and it went off accidentally.
- 2023 (as of 7/12/23): 28 GSW's
- 11 unintentional
- 17 violent
- 2022: 41 GSW's
- 9 unintentional
- 32 violent
- 2021: 55 GSW's
- 17 unintentional
- 38 violent
- 2020: 44 GSW's
- 17 unintentional
- 27 violent
- 2019: 37 GSW's
- 5 unintentional
- 32 violent
- 2018: 29 GSW's
- 8 unintentional
- 21 violent
"You may see a tiny little hole, but the damage inside can be incredible," Landman said.
Landman is humble to the fact that many gunshot woulds are lethal, but adds the teams goal is to help the patient survive.
The number of gunshot victims coming into the emergency department is one that Landman said is tough to understand.
"I hate reviewing those cases, every month we receive 5-10 of these gunshot wounds and it's a preventable thing," Landman said.
Landman said he hopes adults will start talking to their kids about guns and storing them safely.
"We can't rely on a three-year-old to know what to do and not to do," Landman said. "This is something we can prevent if we work together."
The team at the emergency department is equipped with all the tools they need to hopefully change the trajectory of the incoming trauma they're seeing far too often.
"How can we make these numbers go down? It seems a bit difficult to every year keep saying it's getting worse," Landman said.
Riley is also offering community members a free gun lock from the Indiana University School of Medicine Safety Store.
The store is inside Riley Hospital, at the outpatient center.
Every family can get two free gun locks a year.
Riley recommended several resources to help you talk to children about gun safety including American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Rifle Association Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program and ProjectChildSafe.org.
