Analysis reveals one firearm injury was treated every 30 minutes in emergency departments in 10 jurisdictions

A cross-sectional analysis of firearm injury-related emergency department (ED) visits found that between 2018 and 2023, there was approximately one firearm injury ED visit every 30 minutes in the 10 jurisdictions studied.

The analysis also found that rates of firearm-related ED visits were often highest during evenings, weekends, holidays and the summer months. According to the authors, this is the largest analysis to date of detailed temporal patterns in firearm injury using ED data. The results are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed trends in firearm injury ED visits between 1 January 2018 and 30 August 2023 using data from the CDC’s Firearm Injury Surveillance Through Emergency Rooms program (FASTER).

They analyzed data obtained from nine states (Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia) and the District of Columbia. They calculated the rates of firearm injury ED visits per 100,000 total ED visits and assessed temporal variations by time of day, day of the week, month and U.S. public holidays or other days of interest (e.g. Independence Day and Superbowl Sunday).

The researchers found that across the five-year period, the overall rate of firearm injury ED visits was 73.9 per 100,000 ED visits with a total of 93,022 firearm injury ED visits identified. These results equal approximately one firearm injury ED visit every half hour.

The researchers also noted that the rate of firearm injury ED visits gradually increased from the afternoon into the night and hit their average nightly peak rate between 2:30 am and 3:00 am. The average daily rates were highest on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The daily rate of firearm injury ED visits was highest on New Year’s Eve (31 December), and the monthly rate was highest in July.

Other holidays with high rates of firearm injury ED visits compared to non-holidays included Independence Day, Memorial Day weekend and Halloween. These findings highlight significant temporal clustering of firearm injury ED visits, and these insights could inform health care staffing and emergency preparedness, potentially reducing mortality rates associated with firearm injuries.

While the researchers acknowledge that these data are not nationally representative, they note that understanding the factors behind the identified temporal patterns of firearm injury can help inform future prevention efforts and programs.