Michel B. Aboutanos column: We all have a role in preventing violence and healing trauma in Richmond

Our comprehensive approach to the prevention, treatment and recovery from trauma is not our work alone. A number of VCU Health and university leaders are partnering with Stoney, Attorney General Mark Herring, the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority and Department of Health, and leaders in our faith, education and youth communities to stop the violence. Together, we are connecting experts and linking services across the region to make life in Richmond safer and healthier for all.

Toward that end, U.S. Rep. A. Donald McEachin, D-4th, has advanced a federal budget proposal to fund a collaborative model for reducing gun violence in Richmond. We are hopeful Congress will endorse it this year so that we can continue this necessary work.

The most important team member in our effort, however, is you. Each one of us has a vital role to play. May is National Trauma Awareness Month, a moment for all of us to recommit to preventing trauma in all of its forms. We hope you will join area doctors, nurses and community leaders in addressing the root causes of violence in Richmond. As Virginia emerges from one of the most difficult years in memory, let us all move forward with grace in our hearts, science and prayers for guidance, and commit to the well-being of each other. When we act as one community, better and safer days surely are ahead for all of us.

Michel B. Aboutanos, M.D., is medical director of VCU Medical Center’s Level 1 Trauma Center, Trauma Network, and Injury & Violence Prevention Program. VCU Medical Center is home to the only Level 1 adult, pediatric and burn trauma center in the region and the longest-standing, state-designated trauma center in Virginia. Contact him at: michel.aboutanos@vcuhealth.org