Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention
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To determine the extent to which community violence that results in injury treated in emergency departments appears in official police records and to identify age/gender groups at particular risk of under-recording by the police. ⋯ Most assaults leading to emergency department treatment, particularly in which males were injured, were not recorded by the police. Assaults on the youngest group (0-10, particularly boys) were those least likely to be recorded by police and females over age 45, the most likely. Emergency department derived assault data provide unique perspectives of community violence and police detection.
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Comparative Study
Missing the target: a comparison of buyback and fatality related guns.
To determine whether the firearms recovered in buyback programs in a large urban community are the types most closely associated with firearm fatalities in the same geographic area. ⋯ Handguns recovered in buyback programs are not the types most commonly linked to firearm homicides and suicides. Although buyback programs may increase awareness of firearm violence, limited resources for firearm injury prevention may be better spent in other ways.
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The purpose of this study was to assess the range of information relevant to bicyclist injury research that is available on routinely completed emergency department medical records. ⋯ Routinely completed free text emergency department medical records contain limited information that could be used by injury researchers in effective surveillance. In particular information relating to the circumstances of the crash event that might be used to design or target prevention efforts is typically lacking. Routine use of more structured medical records has the potential to improve documentation of key information.
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Residential fire related deaths and injuries among children: fireplay, smoke alarms, and prevention.
The aim of the study was to describe the epidemiology of residential fire related deaths and injuries among children, and identify risk factors for these injuries through a linked dataset for the city of Dallas, Texas. ⋯ Residential fire related injuries among children in Dallas occurred predominantly in the youngest ages (<5 years) and in poor neighborhoods. Most of the deaths, especially those in apartments and mobile homes, resulted from fireplay. Smoke alarms appeared to offer no protection against death or injury in fireplay associated fires, possibly from the nature of the child's behavior in these fires, or from the placement of the smoke alarm. Prevention of childhood residential fire related deaths may require interventions to prevent fireplay in order to be successful.
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To describe injuries and their emergency care at five city hospitals. ⋯ Injuries in Kampala are an important public health problem, predominantly in young adult males, mostly due to traffic. The majority of injuries are unintentional. Hospital response is rapid, but the majority of injuries are minor. Without pre-hospital care, it is likely that patients with serious injuries die before they access care. Preventive measures and a pre-hospital emergency service are urgently needed.