CLEVELAND — Store it Safe (SIS) launched in 2015 as a unique partnership between healthcare providers, firearm advocates and community organizations with the goal of keeping children safe from unintentional gun deaths, and teens safe from suicide by firearms, medications or alcohol.
It's a priority for the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (Ohio AAP) and the Academy of Medicine of Cleveland & Northern Ohio (AMCNO).
AMCNO donated $35,000 to Ohio AAP to bolster the SIS program and allow them to expand safe storage education and lockbox distribution across Ohio.
“In recognition of our 200th anniversary, the Academy of Medicine of Cleveland and Northern Ohio is pleased to honor our public health history by providing funding to help expand the work of Store It Safe across Northern Ohio,” said Jen Johns, executive director of the Academy of Medicine of Cleveland & Northern Ohio. “It is critically important that we make great strides in addressing this growing problem. We are confident that by working together we will be able to significantly reduce youth suicide rates in Ohio.”
SIS trains healthcare providers to screen for depression and suicidality, discuss safe storage of guns with parents and caregivers, distribute safe storage devices, and provide resources to youth and families.
Ohio AAP will provide in-person learning sessions, virtual webinars and podcasts, safe storage lockboxes and educational handouts about youth suicide prevention, caregiver crisis planning, and safe firearm ownership.
As part of its bicentennial year, the AMCNO also formed a gun safety coalition. In addition to the AAP investment, AMCNO is also partnering with the City Club of Cleveland to bring trauma surgeon and author Brian Williams, MD to Cleveland for a public forum on Thursday Dec. 12, 2024.