Firearm-Related Injury
Surveillance, 1998
American
Journal of Preventive Medicine
Firearm injuries are preventable in exactly the same way we prevent other
injuries--through the public health approach. This simple science-based approach
consists of asking and answering four questions for any injury problem we encounter: What
is the problem? What are the causes? What works to prevent this problem? And how do you
get this program implemented?
The articles in this volume report on progress that has been made in the surveillance
of firearm-related injuries. There are several papers that provide a background to
help understand the need for firearm-related injury surveillance. They describe
current systems of monitoring firearm injuries, the approach to linking surveillance to
action at the local level, recommended data collection variables, and the challenges in
implementing firearm-related injury surveillance systems.
The remaining articles describe state-based firearm-related injury surveillance
programs, providing a rich cache of practical lessons for successfully implementing
firearm-related injury surveillance.
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