VDH launches firearm injuries dashboard

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - The Virginia Health Department has launched a new dashboard on firearm injuries.

This comes after the Firearm Injury Surveillance Thorugh Emergency Rooms (FASTER) funding was awarded to VDH by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The dashboard shows the number and rate of emergency department visits from 2016-2022.

“The misuse and mishandling of firearms constitute a significant cause of injury in Virginia,” said State Health Commissioner Colin M. Greene, MD, MPH. “This data set, obtained from emergency department records, will assist in the assessment of proximate causes of firearm-related injury, with an eye toward prevention of future injuries.”

The dashboard findings show:

The number of ED visits for firearm injury increased 72% from 2018 (1,635 visits per year) to 2021 (2,815 visits per year).
From January 2016 through May 2022, the majority of firearm injury ED visits in Virginia (86%) were among males.
Among racial groups, most ED visits for firearm injury occurred among Black patients. In 2021, 65% of ED visits for firearm injury were among Black patients, compared to 22% among White patients.
Young adults bear the highest burden of ED visits for firearm injury with nearly one-third (31%) occurring among adults aged 18-24 years in 2021.

VDH said it hopes to expand the firearm injuries dashboard to include data on firearm injury hospitalizations and deaths in the next year.

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