There are some stats no one wants to own.
Teams at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt are working hard to change one stat in particular: Tennessee is ranked among the top states in the country for the most firearm incidents involving children.
“Actually, we are tied for third with Texas,” said Kelsey Gastineau, MD, MPH, assistant professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine at Monroe Carell. “It’s not a new designation; it’s been that way for the past five years.
“We all have a role to play in reducing this public health crisis. While we hear the tragic stories of school shootings, we often don’t hear about the daily impact of gun violence on children.
“In Tennessee, there have been over 80 deaths each year, which is one death almost every four days.”
This week is Be SMART week, which runs Aug. 25-29. It is an effort to highlight firearm safety. Started in 2024, the awareness week emphasizes several key points to help decrease firearm injuries:
- Secure all guns in homes and vehicles.
- Model responsible behavior around guns.
- Ask about the presence of unsecured firearms in other homes your child visits.
- Recognize the role of guns in suicide.
- Tell your peers about Be SMART.
The Be SMART campaign was launched to raise awareness that secure gun storage — storing guns unloaded, locked and separate from ammunition — can save children’s lives.
In an effort to assist, Monroe Carell launched Locks for Children’s Safety in 2024.
“Secure firearm storage is an evidence-based solution to reduce unintentional injuries, firearm-related suicide, and firearm homicides among children,” said Gastineau. “One barrier to safe storage is access to affordable storage devices. This program provides free gun locks, no questions asked, to eliminate barriers and foster a safe, judgment-free space for families, employees and community members.”
To date, more than 8,200 gun locks have been distributed.
The locks are sourced from a variety of partnerships with state agencies and are available on all floors of Monroe Carell, the Pediatric Emergency Department, Shade Tree Clinic, General Surgery Clinic on Doctors’ Office Tower (DOT) seventh floor, Psychology consult service for Developmental Medicine on DOT 10, pediatric and adolescent clinics at One Hundred Oaks, and through the Employee Assistance Program.
“Be SMART has been a very helpful tool for our teams,” she said. “As providers of health care, we are seeing the outcomes of the evidence-based protocol of asking about secure storage in the home during clinic visits. It’s a simple conversation between the clinician and the family. We are seeing an increase in these conversations, and it has become a part of the medical training as well.”
According to Be SMART data, each year nearly 360 children in the United States gain access to a firearm and unintentionally shoot themselves or someone else.
Gastineau said the program has multiple resources to educate about firearm safety strategies including a virtual statewide Be SMART webinar set for Aug. 27 at 7 p.m., Click here to register.
