Comprehensive Local Injury Surveillance for Pediatric Fatal and Nonfatal Firearm Injury Prevention Planning

Injury by firearm is now the leading cause of death in children in the U.S.. Effective injury prevention requires first defining the problem and identifying risk and protective factors before implementing prevention strategies. There is no comprehensive source available to define firearm injuries, especially at the local level. We propose a local firearm injury surveillance model based on the socio-ecological injury prevention framework that combines injury data from health care, law enforcement, county services, and census data that can help to guide targeted firearm injury prevention interventions.