O3208: Anatomy and Physiology of Firearms: Developing Web-Based Firearms Safety Instruction for Clinicians

Background: Pediatricians play a vital role in youth firearm violence and injury prevention. Despite being the leading cause of death for youth, one of the largest barriers to effective firearm safety counseling is low reported rates of functional knowledge and vocabulary related to firearm injury prevention. Hands-on firearms training has been found to be effective at improving clinician’s self-efficacy and competence on safe firearm storage practices, although this is rarely feasible and not suitable for all clinicians. We seek to create a virtual surrogate for informative and empowering firearm range instruction for clinicians who lack access to such training or might be hesitant to seek out training.

To better understand the intricacies of firearm safety as it pertains to clinician education, our group assembled a focus group composed of numerous experts in firearm safety research, advocacy, and education, including members of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. This focus group created a forum for diverse perspectives in order to best represent the multitude of stakeholders involved in firearm safety and advocacy.

Objectives
1. Review the most common firearms types and ammunition as well as identify features of privately manufactured firearms and military-style firearms.
2. Understand how to apply firearm safety devices and identify barriers to accessibility of safe firearm storage.
3. Assemble a reference of nondiscriminatory and open-minded language for clinicians to frame conversations about firearm safety with patients and families.

Methods: Clinicians from multiple medical and surgical specialties, members from local firearm safety non-profit organizations, and members from local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies including current military and military veterans were invited to a half day seminar to discuss educational priorities for firearm safety counseling.

Results: Discussion was oriented around key questions including: What are the top firearm safety priorities that every clinician should know in order to provide counseling to families? What are the current trends in firearm types, ammunition, and safe devices in our community and nationally? What is the appropriate vernacular to use with adults versus children and adolescents when it comes to safe firearm storage? Group discussion was guided to identify areas of common ground around which the group converged on consensus.

Conclusion: After better understanding the nuances of firearm safety counseling, our group plans to develop a high-fidelity simulated demonstration on firearms safety with an expert firearms instructor who will provide education on firearm types, ammunition, and safe storage and handling behaviors. The educational curriculum in this module will be formulated from the focus group discussion and recommendations.