The Assault-Injured Youth and the Emergency Medical System: What Can We Do?

Emergency medicine practitioners often see young patients who are treated for injuries sustained during a violent encounter, most often with a peer from the same neighborhood. In addition, many more of the children and adolescents that we see are affected by the violence that surrounds them in their homes, neighborhood, and schools. This article reviews the prevalence and impact of interpersonal violence on our young patients, offers a suggested management approach to assault-injured children and adolescents who visit the emergency department, and reviews multidisciplinary outpatient programs for which the emergency department practitioners can advocate within their medical and social services systems.