What happens to the young men who don’t die in the streets like scenes from the HBO series “The Wire” in real life Baltimore? Well a lot of them are treated by Dr. Carnell Cooper. Dr. Cooper is a Baltimore surgeon who is saving lives inside and outside the operating room. Since becoming a trauma surgeon 16 years ago, he has dedicated himself to treating the many young Black men who've been shot, stabbed or beaten, only to see them return to the ER with another severe injury just months later.
But when one of his patients was readmitted with a fatal gunshot wound to the head in 1996, it changed Cooper's life. His colleagues told him that there is really nothing they could do in those situations. But Dr. Cooper did not believe that.
Dr. 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 U.S.'s first hospital-based anti-violence programs.
The program approacheS the problem like any public health crisis, like heart disease or smoking. They began to work on the root causes. The VIP provides substance abuse counseling, job skills training and other support services to trauma victims. Saving their lives is the first step. The next step is to try to keep them from coming back.
A 2006 study 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.
Dr. Cooper was born to unwed teenagers in Dillon, South Carolina and grew up in a neighborhood where violent crime was commonplace. Many of his friends and relatives ended up dead or in jail. But his grandparents made sure he stayed on the right path. As a straight-A student, he attended a prestigious high school in Massachusetts, then Yale University and Duke University School of Medicine.
But while Dr. Cooper rose above his circumstances, he felt sympathy for the young men who rotated in and out of his operating room. His program attempts to help patients from the moment they arrive because victims of violence face a greater risk of receiving another violent injury. Everyone treated for violent wounds at the hospital is seen by a VIP case worker. VIP helps connect its members with additional support services, such as GED classes, conflict resolution, mentoring and parenting skills. A peer support group also meets at the hospital once a week.
The success of Cooper's program has made it a model for others around the U.S. and inspired the doctor to develop a larger initiative, the Violence Prevention Program, which includes other hospital-based efforts targeting young people in at-risk communities.
One success story is 29-year-old Howard McCray. He joined the program in 2001 after he was hospitalized with a gunshot wound. McCray was into robbing and shooting people. He had been through the ER many times. Through VIP, McCray earned his GED and received job training and a driver's license. The program also helped him learn about budgeting money and paying child support. Today, he is an outreach worker for VIP, visiting patients at their bedsides and encouraging them to join the program.
Helping people like McCray inspires Dr. Cooper to continue his work. Carnell Cooper believes it is all part of his responsibility as a doctor.
"There are some individuals who we are not going to save, who are just immersed in the culture, but that's not the majority of folks," he said. "The majority of folks want to get out of the game and deserve a chance. Every physician's goal is to save lives," he said. "This is another step in that process."
Dr. Carnell Cooper was named a CNN Hero for his violence prevention efforts.
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