“As you finalize your plans, remember that safety never takes a vacation,” said Harley Roden, LCDC, program coordinator for injury prevention at the Center for Community Health. 

According to the 2024 Community Health Needs Assessment of households with guns in Cook Children’s eight-county service area, approximately one in five children live in a home with guns that are not always safely locked away. In 2025, Cook Children's saw 68 unintentional gun-related injuries, one of which was fatal. Cook Children’s Aim For Safety program focuses on education and outreach about gun safety to decrease the number of youth injured or killed by a gun.  

“Taking a moment now to ensure all guns are securely stored both at home and while traveling prevents a much-needed break from turning into an unplanned trip to the emergency room,” said Roden.  

The Aim for Safety program takes a pro-safety approach, staying away from politics and focusing on preventing unintentional injury. In 2025, the program distributed 488 gun safes and 3,523 cable locks to the community. Families can find cable locks at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth and Prosper emergency departments. To learn more, visit aimforsafety.org or contact injury.prevention@cookchildrens.org with any questions. 

Roden recommends talking to kids about guns and safety. Aim For Safety can provide families with resources like graphic novels and other materials to help with the conversation.   

The program shares these safety tips: 

Safe Storage 

• Store guns unloaded in locked locations and out of reach of children.
• Use cable locks and gun boxes.
• Secure ammunition separately. 

If You See a Gun 

• Stop.
• Don't touch it.
• Run away.
• Tell a trusted adult. 

Safe Play 

• Ask the parents of your child's friends if they have guns in their homes and how they are being stored.
• If you are asked about your guns, don't be offended.
• Never aim BB guns or pellet guns at another person. 

Aim for Safety in the Community: 
LVT Rise: Saturday, March 28 | 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.  
Carrollton: Saturday, May 2 | 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. 

Lives Impacted by Gun-Related Injuries and Prevention Efforts at Cook Children's 

• In FY 2025, Cook Children’s Medical Center-Fort Worth treated 68 gun-related injuries and one fatality.
• In FY 2024, Cook Children’s Medical Center-Fort Worth treated 62 gun-related injuries.
• Most non-fatal injuries were caused by air-powered guns (BB guns, airsoft guns, paintball guns, etc.), while most severe or fatal injuries were caused by handguns.  

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• Expert Tips for a Safe Spring Break: Water Safety
• Experts Urge Safe Gun Storage as School's Out
• The Ultimate Holiday Safety Checklist 

Cook Children’s Health Care System has treated 16 non-fatal firearm-related injuries so far from January through April of this year. Of those 16 injuries, 14 were unintentional, and two were assault injuries. There have been zero fatal firearm-related injuries  in 2022.

Since 2017, Cook Children’s has treated 344 firearm injuries, 16 of which were fatal.

Cook Children's Aim for Safety® initiative is designed to help reduce the number injuries we see every year among children through gun safety education. This is not about whether guns are right or wrong. It's about taking the necessary steps to protect our children.

Aim for Safety interactive kiosk

Cook Children’s Aim for Safety® program has a new way to educate families on gun safety through an interactive kiosk that teaches children what to do if they discover a firearm in a home — all while reinforcing safe-storage techniques for adult gun owners.

The mobile kiosk, which stands more than 7-feet high and resembles a giant smartphone, rolled out in December at Defender Outdoors, a sports shooting and outdoors equipment retailer in Fort Worth. As part of a first-time collaboration with Cook Children’s, the kiosk was placed near the check-out registers in hopes it attracts the attention of parents and children alike.

The Aim for Safety educational kiosk — activated by touch — uses advanced technology to engage and teach children as they progress through four levels, stumbling upon unsecured guns hidden in places such as cabinets and drawers while moving through a virtual home. If they find a gun, they must correctly answer questions on how to safely handle the situation in order to progress through the program. Other gun safety-related questions are asked as objects in the rooms are found and touched.

The kiosk is another way the hospital system can further its reach in the community and educate more families about the safe handling and storage of firearms, says Amy Johnson, program coordinator for the Center for Children’s Health (C4CH) and Safe Kids North Texas Coalition led by Cook Children’s.

Aim for Safety program

Gun awareness and gun safety is a passion for Dan Guzman, M.D., Medical Director of the Aim for Safety program at Cook Children’s. Dr. Guzman is asking gun owners to take action and store their firearms properly and to take personal responsibility for our children’s safety.

Dr. Guzman stressed that children are curious and impulsive which can be deadly when paired with a firearm. Storing a loaded firearm under the mattress, in a bedside table or a closet is placing your family at risk, Dr. Guzman added.

The most secure place for your firearm is in a safe with the ammunition stored separately. Unsecured firearms should always be in your possession. If you are unable to purchase a gun safe, then separating the ammunition from the firearm and using a cable or trigger lock will help reduce the risk of unintentional injury to your child.

“It’s important to assess and evaluate your home injury risk and find ways to reduce the hazards in your home whether it is related to firearms, water safety, poisonings or any other safety risks,” Dr. Guzman said. “Discussing with your children the importance of what to do when they encounter a firearm can help to reduce unintentional injury in your home."

Help your kids learn and follow the 3-step rules:

Safe storage: 

Parents and caretakers should always ensure safe storage in your own home and the homes you visit. Store firearms unloaded and in locked locations, out of reach of children.

• Use trigger locks and gun boxes.
• Secure ammunition separately.
• Hide gun safe and trigger lock keys.
• Keep unlocked guns in your possession.
• Make sure all guns are equipped with effective, child-resistant gun locks.
• If a visitor has a gun in a backpack, briefcase, handbag, or unlocked car, provide them with a locked place to keep it when in your home.

Safe children: 

If your child sees a real gun or sees someone aiming a toy gun at others, teach them to:

• Stop.
• Don't touch.
• Run away.
• Tell a grown up.

Safe play for non-powder guns:

• When non-powder guns are in use, there are a few things to remember to help prevent injury:
  • Never aim BB guns or pellet guns at another person
  • When using a paint ball gun, gel bead gun, water bead gun, or soft foam gun, players should be properly attired and wear safety glasses at all times.
• Ask the parents of your child's friends if they have guns in their homes and how they are being stored.
• If you are asked about your guns, don't be offended.
• Aim for Safety is for advocating gun safety and gun safety only.
• This information is to aid gun owners in protecting not only their own children, but also those that enter their home.

Fortunately, none of the children died from the shootings, but it left even a seasoned staff from the Emergency Department and Trauma team shaken.

“Gunshots are not something you should think of when you think of pediatrics,” said Corwin Warmink, Medical Director of the Emergency Department at Cook Children's. “It takes a huge toll on our staff because we are treating children. These are young, innocent victims whose lives have ended or have been altered forever. Gunshots cause terrible injuries, even if there is not a death, they are devastating" 

From 2016 to present, 24 kids have been treated at Cook Children's for a gunshot wound. Fourteen were for a BB gun shot, five from a pellet gun, four from a handgun and one from a 40-caliber weapon.

Dr. Warmink said a child-involved shooting carries with it an extra weight because of who inflicted the wound – another child or family member – and it can tear a family apart.

“It’s so frustrating because like drowning, this is something that is 100 percent preventable,” Warmink said. “There’s no reason why a child should have access to a gun, especially a loaded weapon and there’s no reason a child should have the ability to load the weapon.”

Guns in a house or car should never be loaded and accessible, Dr. Warmink said. The gun and the ammunition should be in separate locations and both places should be locked so the child won’t have access to them.

While a handgun or rifle can cause instant devastation, Dr. Warmink warns parents not to get complacent with pellet or BB guns.

“Pellet guns and BB guns can cause serious injuries, and we have seen deaths from them,” Dr. Warmink said. “It only takes one gunshot to the eye or chest for a kid’s life to be forever changed. A pellet gun into the heart or head can cause severe injury or even death.

Dr. Warmink does not mince words to who is responsible for a child-involved shooting – the adults are responsible for keeping guns out of the reach of children. He said some children, depending on age and maturity, won’t understand the finality of a gunshot wound.

"People talk about educating their children about guns, but young children can't comprehend how dangerous a gun is. With guns, it is not a matter of 'uh oh, I made a mistake, but will be smarter next time.' When it comes to gunshot wounds, you don't get a second chance," Dr. Warmink said.

*Data provided by the Trauma Registry of Cook Children's Medical Center, Fort Worth, Texas.

About the Source

Corwin Warmink, M.D., is medical director of Cook Children's Emergency Services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Cook Children's Emergency Department (ED) treats more than 105,000 patients every year. Our ED is the only EMS-designated pediatric trauma center in Tarrant County. Now, thanks to years of dedication and hard work, Cook Children'sMedical Center has reached Level II Trauma Designation from the American College of Surgeons and the Department of State Health Services. Cook Children's Medical Center is one of nine such facilities in the state of Texas. Click to learn more.