Trauma Expert: Hospitals Can Only Do So Much For Victims Of High-Powered Weapons
(CBS) -- Political and religious leaders stood with the chair of Stroger Hospital's trauma unit and a former state public health director Saturday to address gun violence, from the type of shootings that are considered common in Chicago to massacres that have occurred in other cities.
Dr. Faran Bakhari said the wounds inflicted by many of the higher-powered weapons are so catastrophic that it doesn't matter how close his trauma center is.
"There's nothing I can do if parts of your body are missing," Bakhari said.
Bakhari said Chicago's trauma network is prepared to handle an Orlando-style mass shooting. But he said that he would rather see more spent on prevention than treatment.
Former Illinois state Public Health Director Dr. Damon Arnold survived two tours of duty in Iraq but said a stray bullet lodged in the trunk of his car and almost killed him as he drove on Cottage Grove Avenue to speak to a group of students at Chicago State University.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson offered the most controversial comment, saying it is time to reinterpret the Second Amendment because the Founding Fathers could not have foreseen assault weapons.