American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Prevention Committee topical overview: National Trauma Data Bank, geographic information systems, and teaching injury prevention.

Background: Injury is the leading cause of death for all Americans aged 1 to 35 years, and injury-related costs exceed $100 billion per year in the United States. Trauma centers can be important resources for risk identification and prevention strategies. The authors review 3 important resources for injury prevention education and research: the National Trauma Data Bank, geographic information systems, and an overview of injury prevention education.
Data Sources: The National Trauma Data Bank and the Trauma Quality Improvement Program are available through the Web site of the American College of Surgeons. Links to research examples using geographic information systems software and the National Trauma Data Bank are provided in the text. Finally, resources for surgical educators in the area of injury prevention are summarized and examples provided.
Conclusions: Database research, geographic information systems, and injury prevention education are important tools in the field of injury prevention. This article provides an overview of current research and education strategies and resources.
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