http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20161105/MAGAZINE/311059989

Chicago has been pummeled with near constant gun violence this year. An estimated 3,600 shootings have taken place, on average—that’s about 10 shootings a day.

During the recent Halloween weekend alone, 17 people died and 41 were wounded.

And while politicians and policy makers struggle to find ways to create policies to address America’s violence, another related crisis is slowing growing.

Most of the shootings are concentrated in impoverished communities. The virtual war zones are home to people who suffer from poor health and lower rates of insurance coverage, leaving them at a disadvantage when they are injured, either physically or tangentially, by gun violence. And oftentimes, the most vulnerable victims are young people who have a lifetime ahead.

f you grow up in a world where you’re not feeling safe, then you feel as though you’re under attack whether or not you actually are,” said Dr. David Soglin, chief medical officer at La Rabida Children’s Hospital, an acute-care pediatric center on Chicago’s South Side that specializes in treating children who have been victims of abuse and trauma. “For some kids in our communities, they really are under attack.”

The trauma surrounding exposure to gun violence is not disputed, especially among children. In 1995, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention reported that children who had four or more adverse childhood experiences, such as experiencing or witnessing a shooting, were more likely to smoke, drink, abuse drugs and engage in unsafe sex. Those behaviors often lead to chronic conditions such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, diabetes and sexually transmitted diseases.

The growing number of people who survive living in the country’s most violent neighborhoods is causing public health officials to respond by creating comprehensive violence prevention efforts.