Saving Lives and Protecting People From Injuries and Violence

Abstract

Emergency physicians witness the effects of injury and violence every day. Traumatic brain injury, assault-related trauma, motor vehicle crashes, and opioid overdoses make up only some of these injuries-many of which can be prevented and better understood. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (Injury Center) is uniquely poised to measure the toll of injury and violence on the lives of Americans, to communicate this public health burden, and to reduce the factors that increase their risk. Injury is the leading cause of death for persons aged 1 to 44 years in the United States. The Injury Center seeks to prevent violence and injuries and to reduce their consequences. For more than 20 years, Injury Center researchers have investigated factors that put Americans at risk through surveillance and research and translated these findings into evidence-based strategies and interventions. Many of these efforts are directly relevant to emergency medicine through preventing injuries and violence to save lives.