Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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To identify patterns of nonfatal and fatal penetrating trauma among children and adults in New Mexico using ED and medical examiner data. ⋯ Nonfatal injury data suggest that nonfatal violence has increased; fatal injury data suggest that violent death rates have remained constant. Injury patterns vary by age, mechanism of trauma, and data source. These results suggest that ED and medical examiner data differ and that both are needed to guide injury prevention programs.
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To determine the association of rural ED patient assessment documentation with state trauma system implementation, hospital trauma categorization level (i.e., Level-3 vs Level-4), injury diagnosis, and patient demographics. ⋯ The study found overall improved ED documentation of trauma patient status in association with implementation of a statewide trauma system. This improvement in documentation suggests an enhanced process of care with trauma system participation.
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To determine population-based firearm-related morbidity and mortality for Allegheny County, PA (population = 1.3 million), for the year 1994. ⋯ Firearm-related injury and death are a significant public health problem in Allegheny County. Although the crude mortality rate from firearms in the county is lower than the reported national rate, the observed rate for nonfatal injuries in the black youth of this community is the highest firearm injury incidence rate ever reported. Local surveillance of firearm-related injuries, including nonfatal events, is needed to more accurately demonstrate the magnitude of this problem.
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To review the literature for options for integrating injury prevention into the role of out-of-hospital emergency medical services (EMS). ⋯ As changes in the market compel health care systems to focus more on prevention, EMS organizations and individual providers may be assuming new injury prevention roles. Some EMS systems in many parts of the country have incorporated PIP into their work. It is necessary, however, to determine which PIP roles are effective and how they will be supported.