Extreme Risk Protection Orders: An Opportunity to Improve Gun Violence Prevention Training. (6th August 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gondi, Suhas; Pomerantz, Alexander G.; Sacks, Chana A.
• Is Part Of: Academic medicine. Volume 95:Number 1(2020)
• Publication Date: 2019-08-06
• Subjects: Medical education -- Periodicals; Medical policy -- Periodicals; Medical personnel -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 610.711
• DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000002935
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1040-2446

Abstract

Abstract : States are increasingly enacting extreme risk protection order (ERPO) laws, also known as "red flag" or gun violence restraining order laws, as one part of a multidisciplinary approach to address the national gun violence epidemic. Passed into law in more than 10 states and under consideration by legislatures in approximately 30 others, ERPO laws create a legal process to temporarily remove firearms from people who may pose a risk to themselves or others. By enabling family or household members, law enforcement, and, in some cases, health care professionals to petition courts when they are concerned about a potential crisis, these laws can potentially prevent firearm-related violence and save lives. Most states with ERPO laws do not give health care professionals a direct role in filing petitions; still physicians may serve as a resource for patients or their families by counseling on firearm safety and raising awareness of this legal pathway. In this way, the success of ERPO laws depends, in part, on the ability of physicians to accurately assess risk. However, physicians are often not proficient in making these types of risk assessments, due largely to insufficient training, particularly in the context of firearm-related violence. The authors review the literature on physician skill in violence-related risk assessment, medical education in gun violence prevention, and the capacity for training to improve such risk assessments. The authors then make recommendations for integrating focused gun violence prevention training into undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education, reviewing notable examples.