Uvalde doctor encourages pediatricians to ‘be the front line’ in protecting children

ANAHEIM, Calif. — A small-town pediatrician who lost five of his patients in the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting encouraged his fellow physicians to “be the front line” in protecting children.

At the AAP National Conference & Exhibition, where researchers shared “sobering” data regarding an increase in pediatric firearm injuries during the pandemic and the AAP recommended regulating firearms like motor vehicles, Roy Guerrero, MD, FAAP, the sole pediatrician in the 15,000-person town of Uvalde, told hundreds gathered about his experiences on his community’s darkest day.

On May 24, Guerrero recalled, he was eating lunch with his staff when a hospital colleague from San Antonio texted him: “Hey, Guerrero, why is every single trauma surgeon and anesthesiologist on call for a mass shooting in Uvalde?”

“I had no idea at that point,” Guerrero said. “So I dropped off my nurses at the office, and I rushed to the hospital. And lo and behold, the most horrible thing anyone could ever imagine was true.”

As he rushed to the doors of Uvalde Memorial Hospital, Guerrero noticed a border of FBI and police, as well as distraught parents.

“There's a wall of parents outside screaming for their children, and some of them recognizing me, asking me if I could go inside to look for one of theirs,” Guerrero said.

One of the parents was the mother of fourth grade student Miah Cerrillo, who Guerrero found “bloodied” in a hospital hallway.

“She had shrapnel injuries on her right shoulder, but she was OK, and she was alive,” Guerrero said.

Among the 19 deceased fourth-grade students at Robb Elementary school, five were Guerrero’s patients.

“In the end, 21 children and two teachers lost their lives and I want you to really look at that,” Guerrero said. “That's a ton of children. A ton of sons, daughters, moms, aunts, that all passed away in the blink of an eye.”

Among images of makeshift memorials outside the school that Guerrero had photographed, there was the front page of the Uvalde Leader-News on May 26, which contained only the date of the shooting and an entirely black front page.

“That’s what I call the aftermath, the darkness,” Guerrero said. “Our community is dark now and sad. Healing, but it’s sad.”

Guerrero also showed attendees an image of a group of children fleeing the school and identified one of them as the daughter of the head medical assistant at his practice.

“Does anyone think that their children should look or feel like that at their schools?” he asked. “[It’s] the terror, and the terror that still lives today in our community. The shooter didn’t just rob these 21 [people] of their lives. He robbed these kids of their innocence and their tranquility at school, their fun.”

“In my office, what we’re seeing now [are] kids who are terrified to go to school,” Guerrero added.

In June, just more than 2 weeks after the shooting, Guerrero and other affected members of the community, including Cerrillo, traveled to Washington, D.C., and testified at a hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, urging them to take action.

“Years ago, I swore an oath to do no harm,” Guerrero told the committee. “After witnessing firsthand the carnage in my hometown of Uvalde, to stay silent would have betrayed that oath. Inaction is harm. Passivity is harm. Delay is harm.”

Later, in the month following Guerrero’s testimony, both houses of Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden on June 25. The act strengthened background checks for gun buyers younger than age 21 years and includes millions of dollars in appropriations for mental health care and intervention programs. States would also be assisted in carrying out red flag laws, among other inclusions.

Guerrero ended his address by urging attendees to “be the front line” in their own communities by encouraging parents to vote for candidates who “care about children’s safety” and by frankly discussing mental health with their patients.

“I'm here to ask you to enter this fight for what is right and to honor the memory of these fallen angels,” Guerrero said. “I want to be the last pediatrician ever invited to give a speech like this.”

References:

• Cochrane, E et al. Biden signs gun bill into law, ending years of stalemate. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/25/us/politics/gun-control-bill-biden.html. Published June 25, 2022. Accessed Oct. 19, 2022.
• Guerrero R, et al. Uvalde pediatrician gives voice to school shooting victims; AAP National Conference & Exhibition. Oct. 7-11, 2022; Anaheim, Calif.
• House Committee on Oversight and Reform. ICYMI: Dr. Guerrero’s testimony at oversight hearing on gun violence crisis. https://oversight.house.gov/news/press-releases/icymi-dr-guerrero-s-testimony-at-oversight-hearing-on-gun-violence-crisis. Published June 8, 2022. Accessed Oc. 19, 2022.