American journal of preventive medicine
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Firearm-related injuries rank second only to motor vehicle-related injuries as a cause of injury death in Wisconsin. ⋯ With minimal resources and time, the Wisconsin Firearm-Related Injury Surveillance System uses existing state government databases to describe and report the burden of firearm-related injuries. Additional information on circumstances, perpetrators, and weapons involved are available but additional resources are needed to integrate this information with existing data.
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Maryland began a statewide firearm-related injury surveillance system in 1995. The system now focuses on firearm-related deaths; a system to monitor nonfatal injuries is being developed. The system is passive; it accesses, integrates, and analyzes data collected by Maryland's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Maryland State Police, and Division of Health Statistics. ⋯ Maryland's database of information from the medical examiner's office is highly accurate for ascertaining firearm-related deaths that occur in the state. A unique identifier common across data sources would ease record linkage efforts, and improve the system's ability to monitor firearm-related deaths.
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With the current progress of state firearm injury surveillance systems reported in this issue of the Journal, questions about the logical progression of these efforts are being raised. This article reviews the current state of firearm injury data, discusses the importance of firearm injury surveillance, and offers suggestions for maximizing the potential of future efforts in this area.
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The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of federal data systems that report national data on fatal and nonfatal firearm-related injuries and associated risk factors and behaviors. ⋯ Although much progress has been made over the past decade to improve national data on firearm-related injuries, many gaps still remain. A mechanism is needed to better coordinate and integrate federal efforts to collect, analyze, and disseminate data on firearm-related injury.
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Although firearms are the leading cause of injury death in California, no staff resources were devoted to surveillance of firearm-related injuries until 1995, when The California Wellness Foundation funded the Firearm Injury Surveillance Program (FISP). ⋯ Despite the limitations inherent in passive surveillance, FISP serves many of our surveillance needs well.