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Chicago community group training residents to help victims of gun violence

Chicago community group training residents to help victims of gun violence
♪ SOLEDAD: I’M SOLEDAD O’BRIEN. WELCOME TO MATTER OF FACT. IT’S NOT THE KIND OF REPUTATION YOU WANT, BUT CHICAGO IS KNOWN AS A CITY PLAGUED WITH VIOLENCE. IT ENDED 2022 WITH MORE THAN 700 HOMICIDES. THAT’S DOWN MORE THAN 10% FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR. SHOOTING VICTIMS IN PARTS OF CHICAGO FACE LONG ODDS OF SURVIVING. THE NEIGHBORHOODS WITH THE HIGHEST RATES OF GUN VIOLENCE HAVE SLOWER AMBULANCE RESPONSE TIMES, A SHORTAGE OF HOSPITALS AND TRAUMA CENTERS, AND A POLICE FORCE NOT REQUIRED TO ADMINISTER FIRST AID. ONE GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION IS TRYING TO IMPROVE CHANCES FOR SURVIVAL. UJIMAA MEDICS IS TEACHING NEIGHBORHOOD RESIDENTS, INCLUDING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, HOW TO TREAT GUNSHOT WOUNDS AT THE SCENE. OUR CORRESPONDENT LAURA CHAVEZ HAS THEIR STORY FROM CHICAGO’S SOUTH SIDE. TRAMAINE: I DON’T LEAVE OUT THE HOUSE IF IT’S TOO LATE. I LOCK MY DOORS. I’M ALWAYS TRYING TO BE AWARE OF MY SURROUNDINGS, LOOKING AT BODY LANGUAGE. LAURA: TRAMAINE JONES IS A MOTHER OF FOUR AND FEARS THE IMPACT OF GUN VIOLENCE ON HERSELF, HER KIDS, AND HER COMMUNITY. SHE TELLS ME WHEN HER SIX-YEAR-OLD HEARS SIRENS, HE -- TRAMAINE: HE PANICS. HE START CRYING, HE STARTS SHAKING. LAURA: TRAMAINE’S FAMILY KNOWS LOSS. IN 2014, THREE OF HER COUSINS WERE CONFRONTED BY AN ARMED MAN. TRAMAINE: THE GUY SAYS SOMETHING THEY DIDN’T KNOW. THEY DIDN’T THINK HE WAS TALKING TO THEM. THEY KEPT WALKING, AND HE HAD A WEAPON, AND ALL THREE OF THEM JUST RAN IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS. AND HE SHOT MARKUS. HE EXPIRED. MARKUS WAS LIKE MY BEST FRIEND LAURA: MARKUS’S DEATH LED TRAMAINE TO UJIMAA MEDICS. SHE BECAME A TRAINER FOR THE ORGANIZATION, WHICH TEACHES NEIGHBORS, MAINLY ON CHICAGO’S SOUTH SIDE, HOW TO HELP SOMEONE HURT BY GUN VIOLENCE. BORN OUT OF TRAGEDY, THE PROGRAM WAS CO-FOUNDED BY AMIKA TANDAJI AND MARTINE CAVERL. >> IT WAS THE DEATH OF DAMIAN TURNER. HE WAS SHOT A FEW BLOCKS AWAY FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICAL CENTER. TRAMAINE: --LAURA: TURNER, AN 18-YEAR OLD COMMUNITY ORGANIZER, DIED IN THE AMBULANCE ON HIS WAY TO THE NEAREST TRAUMA CENTER, ABOUT 45 MINUTES AWAY. >> WHAT COULD IT HAVE MEANT IF SOMEONE THERE KNEW HOW TO HELP HIM? WE HAVE NO IDEA IF IT COULD HAVE SAVED HIS LIFE, BUT MAYBE. LAURA: THESE QUESTIONS INSPIRED A SERIES OF WORKSHOPS, INCLUDING BASIC GUNSHOT FIRST RESPONSE. >> THE GOAL OF THAT WORKSHOP IS TO HELP THE PARTICIPANTS KNOW HOW TO INCREASE SOMEONE’S CHANCES OF SURVIVING IF THEY’RE SHOT, BUT ALSO HOW TO REDUCE THE CHANCES FOR EMOTIONAL INJURY. >> WE ALWAYS SAY WE HOPE THAT THE PARTICIPANTS NEVER REALLY HAVE TO USE THE HARD SKILLS. LAURA: OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS, UJIMAA MEDICS HAS TRAINED MORE THAN 3000 PEOPLE AT CHURCH GROUPS, BUSINESSES, AND IN HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOMS. >> LET’S TALK TOURNIQUETS. LAURA: JOEY IS 25 AND HAS BEEN A UJIMAA MEDICS TRAINER SINCE HE WAS A STUDENT. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS AT A HIGH SCHOOL? JOEY: I BELIEVE THAT THIS IS THE PERFECT GROUP TO BE TALKING TO ABOUT GUN VIOLENCE, ESPECIALLY SINCE IT’S JUST -- STATISTICALLY, THEY’RE AT THE CENTER. LAURA: WHAT’S GOING ON THROUGH YOUR HEAD WHEN YOU’RE LOOKING AT THEM, THINKING, SOME OF YOU CAN’T EVEN DRIVE OR VOTE? JOEY: IT ISN’T THE LEARNING JUST HOW TO TURN A TOURNIQUET, RIGHT, OR APPLY DIRECT PRESSURE TO A WOUND THAT IS GOING TO CARRY SOMEBODY THROUGH SURVIVAL. HOWEVER, IT IS THE KNOWING THAT SOMEBODY IS HERE FOR YOU. >> CAN ONE OF YOU CALL THE POLICE, PLEASE? DR. PRATT: THESE PROGRAMS LIKE UJIMAA MEDICS OR MY MED-KEY PROGRAM REALLY RESONATE WELL BECAUSE THE YOUTH UNDERSTAND THAT THEY’RE THE HIGHEST RISK TO SUFFERING THESE EMERGENCIES. LAURA: DR. ABDULLAH PRATT IS AN EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN AT U-CHICAGO MEDICINE. ISN’T THERE A RISK IN SAYING LIKE, HEY, WE TAUGHT THIS CIVILIAN HOW TO DO THIS. COULDN’T THEY POSSIBLY BE CREATING MORE PROBLEMS FOR YOU? DR. PRATT: I’VE NEVER SEEN A SITUATION WHERE LAY BYSTANDERS TRYING TO HELP ACTUALLY CONTRIBUTED TO SOMEONE SUFFERING MORE MORTALITY OR MORBIDITY OR DYING BECAUSE OF THAT. WE ALL ARE IN THE SAME BATTLE TO TRY TO GIVE RESOURCES AND EQUIP THE COMMUNITY WITH A HIGH LEVEL OF HEALTH LITERACY. IT’S JUST THAT THIS HEALTH LITERACY IS FOCUSED ON OUR YOUTH, WHERE THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH FOR 16 AND 24 YEAR OLDS IS GUN VIOLENCE, ESPECIALLY HERE ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF CHICAGO. >> OH, I’VE JUST BEEN SHOT. LAURA: WE TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE WORLD YOU’RE TRYING TO CREATE, A SAFE HOME WITH A CLOSE FAMILY. BUT THERE’S GOING TO BE A TIME WHEN THEY GO OUT INTO THE WORLD. >> WE ARE IN AMERICA, AND WE ARE PLAGUED WITH GUN VIOLENCE, AND WE NEED TO START SOMEWHERE. ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN AT ANY MOMENT. AND SO TEACHING YOUR KIDS HOW TO RESPOND TO TRAUMA IS ACTUALLY A GOOD TOOL TO USE AS A -- AS A PARENT, REGARDLESS OF YOUR BACKGROUND OR YOUR RACE, WHAT COMMUNITY YOU ARE PART OF. >> KEEP BLOOD -- >> KEEP BLOOD. >> IN THE BODY. LAURA: IN CHICAGO, I’M LAURA CHAVEZ FOR MATTER OF FACT. SOLEDAD: WE REACHED OUT TO THE CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR COMMENT. THEIR STATEMENT IN PART SAYS, QUOTE, "WE REMAIN COMMITTED TO WORKING WITH OUTREACH AND VIOLENCE PREVENTION ORGANIZATIONS, WHICH PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN STRENGTHENING SAFETY ACROSS ALL OF O
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Chicago community group training residents to help victims of gun violence
In certain areas of Chicago's south side, victims with gunshot wounds have a low chance of surviving, because ambulance response is slower, there's a shortage of hospitals and trauma centers and police personnel aren't required to administer first aid. Ujimaa Medics wants to change that by empowering the residents to help. They are training high school students and neighbors to learn life-saving techniques to treat victims right at the scene. Correspondent Laura Chavez talks to the group about their mission and what medical professionals say about their efforts.

In certain areas of Chicago's south side, victims with gunshot wounds have a low chance of surviving, because ambulance response is slower, there's a shortage of hospitals and trauma centers and police personnel aren't required to administer first aid. Ujimaa Medics wants to change that by empowering the residents to help. They are training high school students and neighbors to learn life-saving techniques to treat victims right at the scene. Correspondent Laura Chavez talks to the group about their mission and what medical professionals say about their efforts.

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