New trauma center cut gunshot travel time by 10 minutes, deaths fell 3.9%

MedicalXpress | Mär 29, 2026

For decades, Chicago's South Side neighborhoods have experienced high rates of firearm violence, making speedy access to expert trauma care a matter of life and death. A recent study in JAMA Surgery helps quantify the impact of critical care: the opening of the University of Chicago Medicine's Level 1 trauma center in 2018 was associated with a nearly 4% reduction in firearm mortality, thanks to faster and closer emergency treatment.