As pediatricians, we at Dartmouth Health Children’s believe that gun violence is an issue that threatens the health and safety of all children and families, and one that we must unite on with common sense safety practices and legislation.
Keith J. Loud, MD, MScGun violence is a public health crisis in the United States, and one that has a disproportionate impact on America’s children. Firearm-related injuries became the leading cause of death in those younger than 25 years of age in the U.S. in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 120 Americans are killed with guns every day, with 22% of these deaths in children and teens in 2020. At the current trajectory, more than 10,000 young people in the U.S. will die by firearms each year.
Last year, Dartmouth Health Children’s physician-in-chief Keith J. Loud, MD, MSc, co-authored an op-ed with Dartmouth Health CEO and president Joanne M. Conroy, MD, on the gun violence epidemic, arguing that the matter is one of public health and not politics. Loud will take part in a panel discussion following a presentation of the one-woman show On the Exhale at the Bank of New Hampshire Stage in Concord on Sunday, February 18, at 2 pm. Making its New Hampshire debut, On the Exhale, by playwright Martín Zimmerman, is from the perspective of a mother whose son was killed in a shooting at an elementary school.
“The story in this play isn’t just a story for countless families across this country—it’s real life,” said Loud, who will be joined on the panel by state Sen. Debra Altschiller (D-Stratham). “As pediatricians, we at Dartmouth Health Children’s believe that gun violence is an issue that threatens the health and safety of all children and families, and one that we must unite on with common sense safety practices and legislation. I look forward to this opportunity to discuss how healthcare professionals, legislators, and everyday Americans can come together and change the tide of this crisis once and for all.”
On the Exhale and the following panel discussion are a production of theatre KAPOW. To purchase tickets for this performance, visit https://bit.ly/488lPTZ.
About Dartmouth Health Children's
Dartmouth Health Children's is the only comprehensive pediatric healthcare system in the region. Fully integrated in Dartmouth Health and anchored for more than 30 years by Children's Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (CHaD)—in Lebanon, NH—Dartmouth Health Children's promotes health, advances knowledge, and delivers the best patient and family-centered care for infants, children, and adolescents across New Hampshire and Vermont. Dartmouth Health Children's conducts groundbreaking research and educates the next generations of health professionals as the primary pediatric partner of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Highly skilled and collaborative child health professionals provide care in multiple settings across the region. Outpatient specialty visits and same-day surgery services are available at Children's Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (CHaD) and Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinics Manchester. Primary care appointments in general pediatrics are available at Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinics in Bedford, Concord, Lebanon, Manchester and Nashua, NH and Bennington, VT; as well as at Dartmouth Health members: Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital, Cheshire Medical Center, New London Hospital and Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center.