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.

A free copy of the full article is available for order.