COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Columbus is on pace to have more homicides and felonious assaults than last year. Many of those crimes are shootings, and many of the victims are taken to trauma centers.

“A trauma patient is completely different. A gunshot wound patient generally speaking had no idea this was coming and the next thing they remember or know is they’re in a trauma bay surrounded by sometimes 15 to 20 team members, professionals trying to help them,” said Dr. Urmil Pandya, trauma medical director at OhioHealth’s Grant Medical Center.

Pandya estimates the hospital treats 400 to 500 people who have been shot each year. He said more than 90% of the gunshot victims they treat survive, but those who survive can still be affected by what happened for the rest of their lives.

“Patients can be here from days to weeks to months with a long recovery ahead, so some of the patients can have long-lasting physical disability,” Pandya said. “Really, in addition to the physical, there’s a psychological and emotional component.”

Pandya said he doesn’t remember the last week his unit did not take care of a patient who had been shot. Dr. Carrie Sims, Chief of Trauma, Critical Care, and Burn at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, shared a similar thought.

“I think I want the community to know all victims of gun violence are terrified, they’re terrified they’re going to die. And some of them do,” she said. “What I also want the community to know is of those people who survive, the 75% who survive their injuries, they carry those scars and trauma for the next months to years and it never really goes away.”

Both doctors also said the violence takes a toll on their teams.

“In the trauma world, these are high-stress events for the healthcare provider, also as well as the patient, of course, and we often times have to focus in on after it’s all said and done, how do we make sure we’re looking out for one another, create an environment where people can communicate and voice whatever distress they’ve gone through in the situation,” Pandya said.