The National Violent Death Reporting System: an exciting new tool for public health surveillance
- Correspondence to: Dr L Barker Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 4770 Buford Highway, NE, Mailstop K-60, Atlanta, GA, 30341 USA; lsb8{at}cdc.gov
- Accepted 31 July 2006
Abstract
The US does not have a unified system for surveillance of violent deaths. This report describes the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), a system for collecting data on all violent deaths (homicides, suicides, accidental firearms deaths, deaths of undetermined intent, and deaths from legal intervention, excluding legal executions) in participating states. The NVDRS centralizes data from many sources, providing a more comprehensive picture of violent deaths than would otherwise be available. The NVDRS collects data on victims, suspects, and circumstances related to the violent deaths. Currently, 17 US states participate in the NVDRS; the intention is for the NVDRS to become a truly national system, representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the US territories. This report describes the history of the NVDRS, provides an overview of how the NVDRS functions, and describes future directions.
- CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- ICD-10, International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision
- NVDRS, National Violent Death Reporting System
- NVISS, National Violent Injury Statistics System
Footnotes
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The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
