Violent crime takes a toll on ER doctors

Police are not the only ones who have to deal with violent crimes. Doctors in emergency rooms see it first hand, when they're treating the victims. Inside Bay State Medical Center's busy emergency department, doctors rush to treat victims of violent crimes. But sometimes, those doctors are treating the suspects who commit the crimes, right next door to the victims....and even in the same room. "I'm not a judge. I'm not a jury. I'm just a doctor. It's simple," says Ronald Gross, MD, chief of trauma and emergency services at Bay State Medical Center in Springfield. The FBI named Springfield the 12th most violent place to live in America, and doctors are saving the lives of victims of crime. "Sometimes you have to focus on the fact that they're not breathing," Gross says. "Sometimes you have to focus on the fact that their heart stopped because they bled so much at the scene."