PHILADELPHIA (AP) — In all of last year, there were only 22 days when someone wasn't shot in Philadelphia. Nearly 1 in 5 victims died.
Now, in a bold effort to stem the bloodshed, several Philadelphia hospitals are about to conduct a citywide experiment that will ask: When gunshot or stabbing victims are being rushed to the emergency room by ambulance, could paramedics do more to save them by doing less?
It's a counterintuitive approach that could test long-held beliefs and change practices at trauma centers across the country.
And every resident of or visitor to Philadelphia could become a study subject, though the biggest effect will probably be in the most violent neighborhoods — poor, mostly black sections where people are skeptical of essentially being experimented on.
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