“We’ve seen gun sales increase significantly nationwide over the past several months,” said Dan Guzman, M.D., a Cook Children’s emergency physician. “Now, with many children being in the home for longer periods of time, curiosity and boredom are something we need to expect. We have to stay vigilant and make sure we’re doing everything we can to prevent a tragic accident.”

According to Small Arms Analytics and Forecasting, this year’s gun sales have already eclipsed 2019 by more than one million firearms.

“With the hunting season about to begin in earnest and the presidential election season about to start in earnest as well, 2020 will without doubt exceed the previous high of 16.6 million units sold in 2016,” SAAF chief economist Jurgen Brauer wrote in an emailed statement provided to FOX Business.

Last year, 41 children were admitted to Cook Children’s for injuries related to guns (including handguns, rifles, shotguns and other firearms such as BB guns.) With 23 children already injured in 2020, Dr. Guzman fears he could see more of these patients this year than last.

“I think most people think this ‘won’t happen to us’ because we’ve taught our kids to never touch guns,” Dr. Guzman said. “But if you aren’t taking the proper precautions as the adult and parent, it’s probably only a matter of when, not if, your life may be affected by an unintentional discharge involving someone you know, and maybe even your child.”

Building awareness for gun safety is a passion for Dr. Guzman. He’s the medical director of the Aim for Safety program at Cook Children’s, which promotes firearm safety for children. The program, which has been featured in several news stories, is a multi-step interactive experience that provides parental awareness and teaches children the steps they should take when they encounter a firearm.

“As parents need to feel comfortable having open-ended conversations with others where our children may play and stay,” he said. “That includes family members and close friends. Don’t be afraid to ask if there’s a gun in the home and if so, how it is stored. Keep the conversation focused on safety and not politics.”

Dr. Guzman offers these safety tips:

The 3 Ts of firearm safety and children

Talk – This includes your family, neighbors and friends. When your child visits other homes, ask the owners if there are guns in their homes and how they are stored. Dr. Guzman said this question is not to be insulting, but to keep your children safe from unsecured firearms.

Teach – Have a conversation with your kids about what to do if they see a gun:

• Stop
• Don’t touch the gun
• Run away
• Tell someone

Take – Dr. Guzman is asking gun owners to take action and store their firearms properly. And, to take personal responsibility for our children’s safety.

When I returned, I checked on the children, but I only saw one. I thought, perhaps he climbed into a box, or was hiding…I called his name. No response.  I screamed his name. No response. My brother came outside.  “Boogie’s gone!” I screamed. That moment, I saw my brother, 36 at the time; tear off down the cul-de-sac with a speed I had not seen since he was the anchor on the record holding high school mile relay team. I continued to search for my son, by this time in tears and my heart pounding.

Bawling and nauseous, I felt each beat in my ears. My daughter thought it was a game and started to search as well. Someone has abducted my child! Where could he have gone in such a short time? How could someone whisk him away and be unnoticed? I was filled with anxiety and dread. Then, in the midst of my terror, I saw my son, standing in the back seat of the car, smiling, watching through the rear window, as the drama unfolded. Instant relief! I grabbed him from the car and hugged him tightly, relieved that my worst fear was not realized that day.

We comfort ourselves by saying “that would never happen in America”, yet the stark reality is that children routinely go missing in the United States. 

The 2015 stats show that there were 460,699 missing children entered into the National Crime Information Center, and 46,046 of those kids were from Texas. Of the kids in Texas, 2,769 children were from Tarrant County alone.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) is the leading nonprofit organization that has been working for 30 years on issues related to missing and sexually exploited children. The abduction and murder of Adam Walsh (of Code Adam) in July of 1981 helped spur the formation of NCMEC. They provide valuable information on their website (www.missingkids.com) on what to do in the event of child abduction.

So as a parent, what can you do to ensure your child’s safety and even the safety of other children? The approach is common sense:

• Keep a current picture.
• When they are very young, just keep an eye on them at all times, in the store, in the mall and at the park. I have a friend who kept her son strapped into a stroller when they were out because he had a tendency to take off.  I used to think the kiddie leashes were cruel, but I get it now.
• As they age and gain more independence, parents need to create scenarios like “What would you do if we got separated in the store?” “What would you do if someone you don’t know wanted to show you a puppy?” “Give you a gift?” “Who is a trusted adult and why?” 
• In the tween and teen years, when they have access to the Internet and cell phones, rules need to be established for the use of technology.
• Sexting and cyberbullying need discussion, as well as what is and is not appropriate to share online. If they encounter anyone online who makes them uncomfortable, asks for or shows revealing photos, reports can be made to www.CyberTipline.com. Many teens are lured away from their homes by people that they meet online, in chat rooms and on social media sites.

NCMEC’s website www.Take25.org provides helpful, age appropriate information to parents about how to teach children about safety. There are also fun activities for children. In the event a child goes missing, call 911, and then call 1-800-THE-LOST.

In the morning, they begin with stretching, but by the middle of the afternoon they are running with real-life Olympians or breathing their way across the United States – all from the comfort of their own classroom. GoNoodle is a new interactive resource that allows children to not only increase their physical activity, but improve their academic performance.

Thanks to a sponsorship from Cook Children’s, 60,136 kids in Tarrant County enjoyed GoNoodle this past year. GoNoodle allows children the opportunity to participate in a fun, interactive “brain breaks,” while measuring the minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity. The brain breaks include running, dancing, stretching and calming exercises. Kids play the games that include spelling, vocabulary and math with physical activity.

“Other programs seem to focus on one or the other – activity or academics; but GoNoodle was unique because it focused on both areas,” said Larry Tubb, senior vice president of the Center for Children’s Health. “We look at bringing GoNoodle as an extension of our Promise, to help the well-being of every child. That doesn’t always mean treating them to get better in a doctor’s office. It also means helping them get better in the classroom. By bringing this physical activity to schools, we are improving the health of these kids. That helps our children and our community.”

GoNoodle brain breaks give the children activities to help keep them focused during the day. They have breaks that help them stretch, release energy or reduce stress. Some of the breaks align with core subjects such as spelling, math, vocabulary, geography, math, reading and even nutrition.

Breaks include:

Airtime. Students “breathe” their way across the United States. They pick their state and begin breathing in and out. The simulation of blowing out blows a balloon on a screen across the country, giving fun facts along the way.

Run with us. Real-life Olympians, on a screen, coach children in track and field events such as the hammer throw, 200-meter sprint and javelin.

To The Maximo. Children perform stretching activities to get their body and mind going early in the morning.

The faculty at A.V.Cato elementary have seen the benefits of GoNoodle. Michelle Miles, the school’s counselor, said she saw the breathing exercises work during the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness tests. The kids did their breathing exercises to calm them before the tests and give them the chance to perform their best.

“GoNoodle has been the greatest opportunity for ADHD students because you can just tell when those students become disengaged from a lesson and are just tired and antsy and unmotivated,” Miles said. “If you can just get them up in between transitions for a few seconds at a time and give them an opportunity to either get the wiggles out or start focusing on how they are going to move forward, it tends to help them just get the energy out; and have it be OK and accepted before they move on to the next lesson. This has been ideal for some of our younger kids who have all that extra energy bottled up.”

Amber Grier, an elementary teacher at A.V. Cato, said she recently saw the benefits of GoNoodle. She had been working with her students throughout the day on mixed fractions and adding fractions. One child in particular just didn’t seem to understand the lesson. She had exhausted her efforts for the day. Then they began to play one of the GoNoodle games and was pleasantly surprised to see the child get every answer correct.

“I had a huge smile on my face because I was so relieved to know that he had learned what we were doing,” she said. “But he wasn’t able to produce the answer quickly until he got moving and stopped worrying about making me happy. He was just playing the game and he was able to get all the answers. True learning is play.”

Marc Mazade, an Infectious Disease specialist at Cook Children’s, first heard about Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) at a presentation last year.

While Dr. Mazade says the attack rate of MERS seems low compared to other respiratory illnesses, he does advise certain precautions if traveling overseas.

“Returning travelers who develop signs of illness should discuss with their healthcare provider their full travel itinerary, exposures they may have noted during travel, and activities in which they participated while traveling,” Dr. Mazade said. “For a physician, the key to a prompt diagnosis of any potentially serious disease like MERS is making the connection that a patient or family has traveled recently to the Arabian Peninsula or other area where an outbreak has been documented.”

The CDC reports “most MERS-CoV cases have been reported in adults (median age approximately 50 years, male predominance), although children and adults of all ages have been infected.” Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal said that severe disease can occur in children with underlying conditions.

First, Dr. Mazade suggests those who are traveling from the U.S. to other countries to always check the CDC website for health-related travel advisories before making travel plans. Six to eight weeks before visiting overseas, Dr. Mazade advises people to receive a travel clinic consultation from their physicians.For more information, read the CDC's tips on traveling smart.

Dr Mazade said a travel clinic consultation will help determine if travel vaccines or malaria prophylaxis are necessary, as well as provide:

• An opportunity to receive counselling about other health risks a traveler might face.
• Whether to buy travel insurance or not.
• How to register a travel itinerary with the State Department to get a replacement passport in the event that one is lost or stolen.
• What items to take and what to avoid. 

“We consider fever in a returning traveler to be a serious concern and encourage travelers to stay in touch with their physician about any health problems occurring after traveling,” Dr.  Mazade said. “Visiting other countries can be exciting. Staying healthy and being aware of risks when traveling will keep the memories pleasant.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported the first case in the United States of MERS to be transmitted from one person to another.

The CDC states, the first U.S. Case of MERS was confirmed on May 2, 2014, after someone traveled from Saudia Arabia to the U.S. On May 11, 2014, a second U.S. “imported case” occurred, again from Saudia Arabia. The third case came as a direct result of an Illinois resident who had contact with the first case.

According to the CDC, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory illness first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012. It is caused by a coronavirus called MERS-CoV. 

The CDC says MERS “represents a very low risk to the general public in this country,” but will continue to monitor the situation and provide recommendations as necessary. At this time, no vaccine against MERS exists.

Donald Murphey, M.D., medical director of Infectious Disease at Cook Children’s, worries over the fact that diseases like measles and pertussis are once again in the news.

“It’s alarming to see the rise in these diseases that were so common prior to the advent of effective vaccines, but largely disappeared with immunization,” Dr. Murphey said. “It’s frustrating too because we have safe vaccines that prevent these diseases. The solution is for kids, teens, and adults to get immunized.”

Measles is a highly, dangerous, but preventable disease with vaccinations.

The CDC report says that many of the cases are from people who visited other countries. Of the 129 cases reported by the CDC, 34 were “importations” from other countries. The Philippines has seen 20,000 confirmed or suspected cases of measles cases from Jan. 1 to Feb. 28 and 69 confirmed deaths.

But why is this happening? “The increase in importations from this outbreak and subsequent transmission in certain settings in the United States highlights the importance of ensuring age-appropriate vaccination for persons traveling to areas where measles is endemic and maintaining high vaccination coverage at the national and local level,” The CDC report states.

Parents can make an important step in preventing their children from catching measles through the use of two doses of the MMR vaccine.

“We thought we were on our way to eradicating these diseases,” Dr. Murphey said. “Our goal was that these diseases would be completely controlled by the year 2015. But misinformation and fear about immunization has prevented that from happening. It’s a very sad situation because children suffer, but it can be much worse if segments of the population refuse to receive their vaccines.

Measles is particularly contagious. Transmission is by coughing, sneezing or simply being next to someone laughing. It’s that easy.

Dr. Murphey said what’s particularly frustrating is that these diseases can be contained and even eliminated if we do our part. MMR vaccination remains the most effective way to prevent outbreaks. In children, the first MMR vaccine dose is usually administered at 12-15 months and the second at 4-6 years.  However, the MMR vaccine is recommended for children as young as 6 months old when they are traveling abroad. Children under 12 months of age and traveling internationally should receive 2 doses of MMR, separated by at least 28 days

All college students, international travelers, and health care personnel should receive two doses of MMR vaccine, unless they have other evidence of measles immunity.

“I can’t stress enough if you are traveling abroad, the importance of making sure you are updated on your immunization,” Dr. Murphey said. “This holds true for pregnant women, infants, kids, teens and adults. We all have to do our part and have our shots updated to keep each other healthy.”