Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Billions Are Being Spent To Protect Students From School Shootings. Does Any Of The Measures Work?
The Washington Post: School Shootings Have Fueled A $2.7 Billion School Safety Industry. What Makes Kids Safer?
The expo had finally begun, and now hundreds of school administrators streamed into a sprawling, chandeliered ballroom where entrepreneurs awaited, each eager to explain why their product, above all others, was the one worth buying. Waiters in white button-downs poured glasses of chardonnay and served meatballs wrapped with bacon. In one corner, guests posed with colorful boas and silly hats at a photo booth as a band played Jimmy Buffett covers to the rhythm of a steel drum. For a moment, the festive summer scene, in a hotel 10 miles from Walt Disney World, masked what had brought them all there. (Woodrow Cox and Rich, 11/13)
NPR: Vicarious Trauma For Doctors And Nurses Who Treat Victims Of Gun Violence
Gun violence has become a part of everyday life in America and of the work lives of doctors, nurses and first responders, too. After the National Rifle Association told doctors to "stay in their lane" in response to a policy proposal from the American College of Physicians for reducing gun-related injuries and deaths, there was a backlash. Health care professionals shared heart-wrenching stories about treating people harmed by firearms. (Gordon, 11/14)
NPR: How Doctors And Nurses Cope With The Human Toll Of Gun Violence
Gun violence has become a part of everyday life in America and of the work lives of doctors, nurses and first responders, too. After the National Rifle Association told doctors to "stay in their lane" in response to a policy proposal from the American College of Physicians for reducing gun-related injuries and deaths, there was a backlash. Health care professionals shared heart-wrenching stories about treating people harmed by firearms. How do doctors and nurses cope with their regular encounters with the human toll of gun violence? How does exposure to trauma affect them? (Gordon, 11/14)
ProPublica: Brothers Who Were Online Friends With Pittsburgh Shooting
The morning of the synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh last month, 23-year-old Edward Clark killed himself in a Washington, D.C., park. Ever since, the authorities have been piecing together a disturbing portrait of Clark and his older brother, Jeffrey Clark, 30, who had been online friends with the suspect in the Pittsburgh attack. Online, Jeffrey Clark had called the massacre a “dry run for things to come.” (Thompson, 11/14)
And more on the Stoneman Douglas school shooting in Florida —
The Associated Press: Florida School Massacre Panel To Hear From Criticized Deputy
The then-sheriff's deputy on campus during the Florida high school massacre is scheduled to testify Thursday before a state commission investigating the shooting, a day after members called him "not a real cop" and "a coward." Former Broward County Deputy Scot Peterson is subpoenaed to appear before the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, where he will be asked why he did not enter the building where 14 students and three staff members died Feb. 14 and try to stop the shooter. (Spencer and Anderson, 11/15)
The Associated Press: Students Say They Reported Threats Before School Massacre
Two students told investigators they reported the Florida high school shooting suspect to an administrator for making threats but felt they were not taken seriously, a commission investigating the massacre was told Tuesday. Pinellas County sheriff's Detective Chris Lyons told the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission that 30 people knew suspect Nikolas Cruz made threats and racist remarks, committed animal cruelty and engaged in odd behavior in the years before the February shooting that left 17 dead, but few reported it to police or school authorities. (Spencer, 11/14)
Health News Florida: Stoneman Douglas Safety Hearing Scrutinizes 911 System In Parkland, Coral Springs, Broward
A poorly organized 911 system hampered the police response to the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. That’s one finding discussed on Tuesday by the public safety commission investigating the shooting. (Stein, 11/14)
