Warm weather, alcohol, gang mentality, taunts and knives.
What a cocktail!
It's lethal, and it's on our doorstep.
The rise in community violence is a major worry.
The impact on doctors and staff in emergency departments is enormous.
These senseless attacks. Especially when knives are involved, result in horrific injuries and tie up beds and other precious hospital resources.
Doctors are tired of seeing the waste and the futility, not to mention the lifelong scarring of victims.
We are heading into a long, hot summer, and as State Parliament will not sit until February, we will not see new laws enacted that would have addressed trouble spots and troublemakers ("Booze bust", December 6).
Let's hope that we get through the holiday season with fewer scars and that politicians on both sides make community violence a priority issue, and act swiftly.
Dr Doug Travis
President, AMA Victoria