First Response: Helping Patients Heal After Gun Violence

In the finale of our three-part series, we hear from professionals who help those affected by gun violence find recovery beyond the hospital bed.

Getting stitched up is just one part of a gunshot wound patient’s recovery. People face a long line of stressors after getting out of surgery.  

That’s where Harborview Medical Center’s Violence Intervention and Prevention Program comes in, to ease the burden on patients as they figure out things like transportation to follow-up appointments, help with paying medical bills and access to trauma therapy. 

In our third and final episode of First Response, we hear from Paul Carter III and Tarrell Harrison Jr., two violence intervention and prevention specialists who work closely with Harborview patients after they’ve been shot, about what their work looks like on the ground. We’ll also hear from Mark Rivers of Community Passageways, one of the organizations that Harborview connects patients with as they get close to leaving the hospital.  

Together these three highlight the community-wide effort to help patients and families navigate the hardship and trauma of gun violence. The hope is that these efforts can prevent people from returning to the circumstances that brought them to Harborview in the first place.  

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Credits 

Host/Producer: Sara Bernard and Maleeha Syed 

Reporters: :  Sara Bernard and Maleeha Syed 

Story editor: Ryan Famuliner

Executive producer: Sarah Menzies

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