Peer-reviewed article
Disparities in Pediatric Firearm Injury Care: A Comparison of Chronic Illness Pathways.
Gastineau K, Murry V, Fetuga R, Carro S, Williams R et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001Pediatric firearm injuries are a leading cause of illness and death in the USA, but children who survive these injuries receive fragmented care without standardized protocols or follow-up support. Unlike established care pathways for other serious childhood conditions like asthma and cancer, firearm injury management lacks coordinated interdisciplinary systems. The report proposes comprehensive clinical guidelines including firearm safety screening in routine pediatric visits, standardized trauma protocols with automatic team activation, and structured long-term follow-up addressing medical, behavioral, and social needs.
Key points
- Pediatric firearm injuries are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the USA
- Clinical care for firearm injuries is fragmented and unstandardized compared to established pathways for asthma and cancer
- Current approaches lack structured follow-up or coordinated support systems for affected youth
- Proposed guidelines emphasize universal firearm safety screening in routine pediatric visits
- Systemic biases in healthcare perception and management of firearm injuries contribute to care disparities
Limitations
This is a conceptual paper proposing guidelines rather than evaluating an actual intervention or presenting empirical data. The document does not provide evidence on the effectiveness of the proposed care pathways or quantify the disparities it describes.
Abstract
Pediatric firearm injuries represent a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the USA, yet clinical care models for youth with firearm injuries remain fragmented and unstandardized. Unlike other serious pediatric conditions such as asthma and cancer, which benefit from established interdisciplinary care pathways, firearm injuries are often treated as isolated events without structured follow-up or coordinated support systems. This absence of standardized clinical guidelines reflects broader systemic biases in how these injuries are perceived and managed within health care. Drawing on the Injury Equity Framework and established chronic disease management models, we propose comprehensive, trauma-informed clinical guidelines for pediatric firearm injury care spanning primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. These guidelines emphasize universal firearm safety screening integrated into routine pediatric visits, standardized protocols for acute trauma care with automatic interdisciplinary team activation, and structured longitudinal follow-up addressing medical, behavioral health, and social needs. By comparing current fragmented approaches to evidence-based care pathways used in asthma and cancer management, we identify critical gaps in continuity and comprehensiveness of firearm injury care and offer specific, actionable recommendations to close these gaps.