New Learning Activity on Extreme Risk Protection Orders for Healthcare Professionals

In partnership with the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the School of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy & Research has helped launch a new online learning tool on Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) laws for healthcare professionals!

 

This new offering on What Clinicians Need to Know is available now on the Implement ERPO site – a one-stop-shop for all things ERPO – hosted by the Bloomberg American Health Initiative. This tool provides step-by-step instruction from leading subject matter experts and features simulated patient-clinician encounters modeling effective counseling strategies. What’s more—What Clinicians Need to Know is a CME-credit eligible activity! Interested clinicians can process CME credit here.

 

Evidence shows that 1 life is saved for every 10-20 ERPOs issued. ERPOs are legally issued civil orders that allow people on the front lines to ask a court to prevent someone at imminent risk of harm to themselves or others from purchasing or possessing firearms during a critical period of danger.

 

As of April 2020, ERPO laws are active in 19 states and the District of Columbia. In 2018, Maryland became the first state to designate clinicians as authorized petitioners and since then, Hawaii and D.C. have followed suit. Eligible clinicians can improve their standards of care and impact national efforts to reduce deaths from firearm violence, including gun suicide, with ERPOs part of their toolkit.

 

As several states currently consider ERPOs for the first time and others update existing legislation, the early experiences of clinician petitioners provide key insight for future implementation. A recent survey1 of Hopkins physicians found 70% of respondents initially described themselves as unfamiliar with ERPOs. But after receiving a brief description of ERPOs, 92% reported that they encounter patients for whom they would consider an ERPO petition and 60% indicated they would be likely to file an ERPO petition for qualifying patients.

As a professional medical, mental health, and/or public health practitioner/advocate/educator, you are part of a broader community that can greatly benefit from learning more about what ERPO laws are, why we need them, and how they work. We encourage you to use What Clinicians Need to Know and share this evidence-based strategy to further advance our collective mission to enhance public safety and improve public health for all.

Watch the video.

Please contact gunpolicy [at] jhu.edu (gunpolicy[at]jhu[dot]edu) with questions.