Public health reports
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Public health reports · Mar 1989
Surveillance for injuries: cluster of finger amputations from snowblowers.
In an investigation of the health effects of a Christmas eve snowstorm in 1982, a review of emergency room records in the Denver area identified a cluster of 17 cases of finger amputations. Fifteen (88) percent of these amputations were associated with snowblower use. An additional 12 persons with hand or finger injuries without amputations from snowblowers were identified. ⋯ This investigation illustrates the importance of surveillance in detecting and controlling injuries. Without such surveillance, the similarity among injuries reported on this paper would not have been recognized. Ongoing surveillance for injuries might identify other clusters of injuries.
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Public health reports · Mar 1989
ReviewFirearms injuries and deaths: a critical public health issue. American Medical Association Council on Scientific Affairs.
The prevention of firearm deaths and injuries is one of the most complex and controversial issues facing the public health profession in recent years. Laws have been enacted to control or discourage private gun ownership, and especially to eliminate guns from the hands of criminals, but the laws' effects in reducing crime and firearm-related injuries and deaths have been disappointing. ⋯ One of the most troubling aspects of handgun violence is that children often are the victims. Educational efforts have been attempted to promote the safer use of firearms, but they have not led to a significant reduction in the number of fatalities, since most firearm incidents are intended to do harm.