A safer world for each and every one of them

On Call 4 Kids began in the aftermath of the July 4th, 2022 mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois. Dr. Emily, a pediatrician, was attending the parade with her family when a gunman opened fire on the crowd, killing seven people and wounding dozens more.

As a physician who cares for children every day, she could not reconcile what she had witnessed with the silence that so often follows these tragedies. Firearm injuries had quietly become the leading cause of death for children and teens in the United States, yet they were rarely treated as the preventable public health crisis they are.

Out of that day came a resolve: to bring the voices of healthcare workers — the people who treat these injuries and console these families — directly to the lawmakers who can prevent them. On Call 4 Kids grew into a non-partisan coalition of doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals advocating for evidence-based policy to keep children safe.

We are not here to take sides in a political debate. We are here because we have held the hands of grieving parents, and because the science is clear: thoughtful, evidence-based prevention saves young lives.