Statement of purpose In 2014, the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) was expanded from 18 to 32 states. This system now covers 50% of all violent deaths that occur in the US. NVDRS facilitates the pursuit of new state-level violence prevention partnerships while providing a wealth of data elements that could be used to better understand the complex nature of violent deaths. This panel session will detail next steps around expanding and discuss collaboration and partnerships that make programs successful.

Methods/Approach A panel member from the CDC NVDRS program will provide an overview of current system and share future directions. Panel members from state NVDRS programs will provide presentations on state partnerships and innovative data uses or linkage projects that demonstrate utility of data. Partner organisations may also present their work.

Results By the end of this session, participants will: 1) be aware of CDC NVDRS program, 2) understand future directions, 3) learn how state programs utilise data to better inform prevention programs, 4) exchange ideas around potential partnerships and collaboration, 5) learn about data methods that have been developed by programs to demonstrate program capabilities, and 6) learn about the Safe States Alliance NVDRS Special Interest Group (SIG).

Conclusions Over 50,000 violent deaths occur in the US every year. NVDRS provides substantial information about these deaths for the 32 participating states. Injury programs need to take full advantage of the data to maximise prevention potential.

Significance and contribution to the field Injury programs need to utilise data on violent deaths to better inform and direct prevention efforts. As more and more states collect data, injury programs need to develop strategies to incorporate violent death data into strategic partnerships.