You will now get to see data regarding people who visit the emergency room with firearm injuries here in the state.
The Virginia Department of Health launched its Firearm Injuries in Virginia: Emergency Department Visits Dashboard on Thursday.
“The misuse and mishandling of firearms constitute a significant cause of injury in Virginia,” said State Health Commissioner Colin M. Greene in a press release. “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.”
Lauren Yerkes, an injury and violence prevention epidemiologist with the Virginia Department of Health, said firearm injuries are increasing across the state and something needs to be done.
“There are more emergency department visits for firearm injuries, and so we really need to work together to look at prevention measures so that doesn’t continue to be the increasing trend,” Yerkes said.
The dashboard shows firearm injury data by year, health district, age group, sex and race/ethnicity across Virginia.
According to the VDH, data is planned to be updated monthly to show the latest statistics of firearm injuries in the state.
The number of ED visits for firearm injuries increased 72% from 2018 (1,635 visits per year) to 2021 (2,815 visits per year), according to the press release.
In the next year, VDH hopes to expand the firearm injury dashboard to include data on firearm injury hospitalizations and deaths.