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Cooper created the Violence Intervention Program (VIP) at the Shock Trauma Unit of the University of Maryland Medical Center, the state's busiest hospital for violent injuries. It became one of the country's first hospital-based anti-violence programs.
"We approached this problem like any public health crisis, like heart disease or smoking," he said. "We tried to work on the root causes."
Since 1998, VIP has provided substance abuse counseling, job skills training and other support services to nearly 500 trauma victims.
"Using that scalpel blade to save their life is the first step," Cooper said. "The next step is to try to keep them from coming back."
A 2006 study by Cooper and his colleagues, published in the Journal of Trauma, showed that people in the program were six times less likely to be readmitted with a violent injury and three times less likely to be arrested for a violent crime.
Saw this story last night on CNN. Was wonderful that somebody is using their heads for something besides butting against a wall. Thinking outside the box. Admirable results. I love a person with no give-up in them. Refusing to accept the judgment of "nothing we can do".
Would love to see more of this thru CNN's "Hero's" from all the really-caring and effective people we have in our country that have the insight and ability to really make changes.
Great story , nice to see something positive for a change . My dad was a general surgeon and had to cover the ER every other weekend for years when I was growing up . He always did the follow-ups and retired with a perfect record ( no malpractice suits ) . Being an ER doctor today must be 10X more difficult than it was then . I know for damn sure I couldn't handle it .
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