The BRIC Box - What Your Patients Can Expect

The BRIC Box, first and foremost, represents a spirit of solidarity, leading with radical generosity for the purpose of communicating with patients in a way that meets immediate needs and lays the foundation for trust to form. All too often in healthcare patients carry the burden of proving they are worthy of compassion, either through empathy for their sickness or through their status as payers. In both cases, patients who have been shot bear a burden of association with crime and are often under or uninsured. With more than 50% of patients being discharged from the Emergency Department after brief evaluation for their bullet injuries, this also creates an immediate need for self-care which may be painful, stressful, and expensive. Thus, The BRIC Box represents care which is generous, accessible, and useful for self-directed healing.

The steps in presenting a BRIC Box therefore include the following:

1. Identify patients ready for discharge
2. Identify who will be the point of contact to present The BRIC Box
3. Clarify aftercare plans for patient via follow up clinic, primary care, or as needed engagement with emergency services
4. Disclose to patient diagnosis of bullet injury to include staging, any special concerns around pain management and wound care, weight bearing status, hygiene restrictions, and follow up plan.
5. Present the box without coercion as it should be given freely and not be contingent on signing up for a program or sharing information.
6. Consider, after the box presentation, an invitation to share information for participation in any number of programs available.