Add To The List Of School Supplies–Hyfin Vents In Case I Get Shot

I start every morning with the morning paper.  I have graduated from actual paper to a tablet, but still read it as a ‘replica’, meaning that I still get that “turn the page” sort of feel.  Guess I am a bit old fashioned that way.  I periodically think of this habit as a waste of time.  Most of the news is not good news and most of it reflects events that are so out of my control that I can do little but send yet another letter or post-card off to my Senator or Representative in Harrisburg or Washington.  Sigh.

This morning’s headline, right along side a picture of two world leaders shaking hands, is the headline . . . “Trauma kits, used in war, readied”.

Trauma kits.

Used in war.

Readied.

Readied for what????

School.

The debate on what to do has, once again, ground to a halt, with no action taken to lessen the chances of kids getting shot when they go to school next year.  With only a week or so left in the current school year, we can all breathe a sigh of relief that we (ok, most of us) have made it through the year alive. The best we can do for the future it seems, is to stock our schools with medical kits to respond to a potential mass-casualty event.  The kits include tourniquets to stop bleeding from arms or legs (pierced or shattered by bullets).  Hyfin vents used to seal chest wounds caused by puncture (by bullets), and medicated gauze pads treated with a coagulant to stop blood oozing (from bullet holes).  By the way, Hyfin vents are available on Amazon in twin-packs available for SAME DAY DELIVERY!!!  What a world we live in.

Is this really the best that we can do?

Imagine yourself transported back in time to when you were in school.  For me, that is the 1970’s.  We felt like school was terribly stressful with academics and bullies and expectations.  But at no time did I feel like it was a good idea to have mass-casualty medical supplies available.  Just in case.  Looking back, I could see myself not going to school.  No wonder I see so many kids in my practice with anxiety-based school refusal.  Last week when I went to a school related event for my granddaughter, I looked around the auditorium and planned my response to a shooter coming in any one of the several exits and how I would respond in a way to save my family, even at the expense of my life.

Is this really the best that we can do?

My plan going forward is to be a squeaky wheel for school safety.  Being a non-apologetic liberal, it is my strongest belief that additional restrictions on gun availability are part of the solution.  It will NEVER be all the solution.  We must create programs within schools to foster a greater sense of safety for all the students there.  Programs to identify students at risk.  Programs to intervene socially, psychologically, and, when necessary, legally.  To do nothing is unacceptable.  But is stocking our school with mass-casualty medical supplies the BEST that we can do?

I don’t think so.

We must do more.

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