And 2023, the Louisville metro area saw about 409 of fatal shootings.

University of Louisville Health is addressing trauma from gun violence through an intervention program that assists victims and their families after a shooting.

Non-Fatal injuries are definitely higher than the homicides, and so what people don't see is what people go through.

So they go to the hospital, they heal.

And in there people assume that they're fine.

We've noticed that.

And I mean, the healing journey starts as soon as they are able to vocalize and sometimes not even vocalize it.

The family needs things.

The patient needs supports.

And so right there at bedside, we're able to ask and communicate with the patient to see, hey, like what has brought you in here?

How can we help with services?

Do you feel as though you need to in order to be in order to be successful once you leave here?

Because we know the world doesn't stop.

Once you get to the hospital.

Things still happen at home that you have to keep up with.

We're able to use some of the support systems within the Trauma Institute where we have trauma resource as social workers that provide bedside mental health therapy, and then we're able to connect our patients to mental health supports outside of the hospital.

Those mental health resources are very needed because you have that PTSD or you relive that trauma.

And then also the doctor appointments that you have to go, you know, continue to follow up with.

And then we're able to refer out to our community partners so that they can provide more support, whether that is housing insecurities, whether that is mitigating, mitigating any type of retaliation that may come about, and then supporting the family so that they have everything they needed while they're helping to take care of some of their loved ones who have been injured because these are preventable injuries.

One is too many because one patient impacts the whole community.

Whether that is the family, that the patient is a part of the community, that person is a part of their work, their job, their children.

The impact that one patient can have on a whole community is very is very detrimental and impacts how we all cope, how we all move forward to be successful.

James says in 2022, the hospital treated more than 100 gunshot victims under the age of 18.

But she also says fortunate lay the number of gunshot victims coming into the hospital has dec