12 Ways Americans Solved Safety Prolems

February 15, 2018 (The Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, the deadliest school massacre in our history, cries out for us to look at the big picture and examine how our country handles health problems.)

Americans have a history of looking a problem straight in the eye and taking action to solve or lessen the problem. These are a handful of examples:

1. Sports safety equipment has evolved so fewer athletes are injured.

2. Tooth decay, sometimes leading to abscess and sepsis, affected quality of life and sometimes led to death. Toothbrushes, modern dental care and fluoride have led to better dental heath.

3. Houseflies used to homes and spread deadly microbes. Screens were invented.

4. Drivers could not see the edges of their lanes which often led to fatal accidents. Bott’s Dots were invented and used on roads to help motorists see boundaries and stay in their lanes.

5. Years ago, contaminated milk was killing children. Pasteurization of milk changed this.

6. Too many accidents were happening in work places. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was formed to reduce these accidents.

7. Some toys can kill children. The consumer Product Safety Commission was formed to oversee this problem and recall toys that could kill children.

8. Before stethoscopes, doctors put their ear to the patient’s chest to listen to the heart. Now they use stethoscopes for better heart hearing.

9. Years ago, patients who had to have legs amputated or teeth extracted suffered great pain during these procedures. Anesthesia was invented.

10. Children used to suffer from whooping cough (I did) and it was especially life-threatening in babies. Babies and children now are vaccinated with DTaP to prevent this disease.

11.  When so many people were being killed in automobile accidents, seat belts and airbags were invented and legislated.

12. Current problem: “When a gunman killed 20 first graders and six adults with an assault rifle at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, it rattled Newtown, Conn., and reverberated across the world. Since then, there have been at least 273 school shootings nationwide. In those incidents, 439 people were shot, 121 of whom were killed.” (NYT, 2/15/18)    Solution? Send thoughts and prayers and listen to the NRA?

Read more:

 NRA money speaks loudly to our politicians: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/04/opinion/thoughts-prayers-nra-funding-senators.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur


How Australians solved a problem: http://www.slate.com/blogs/crime/2012/12/16/gun_control_after_connecticut_shooting_could_australia_s_laws_provide_a.html

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/04/opinion/thoughts-prayers-nra-funding-senators.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur

A roadblock to the solution in the US: http://www.newsweek.com/government-wont-fund-gun-research-stop-violence-because-nra-lobbying-675794