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Center for Injury Prevention Policy and Practice
California Data Sources for Injury
Surveillance,
Research, and Prevention Activities
- EPICenter, California Department of Health Services, EPIC Branch
The EPICenter provides access to the most recent California statewide and county-specific injury data via standardized tables or through its powerful query system. Mortality and morbidity data is available.
- California
Vital Statistics Death Records, Department of Health Services
(DHS)
Data are available on every reported death from
CA death certificates where the external cause of injury falls in
the ICD-9 code range E800-E999. Cause of death information on the
death certificate are reported by attending physicians, medical
examiners, or coroners. and demographic information about
decedents reported by funeral directors, who obtain that
information from family members and other informants. The fact
that this data is E coded allows for a population-based fatal
injury surveillance system. Vital statistics data are limited in
the information they provide surrounding the nature and
circumstances of the injury and risk factors associated with the
death.
- Medical Examiner or Coroner's Reports
Narrative
information on the circumstances surrounding the cause of the
death. Vital Statistics often conclude the underlying cause of
death from these reports.
- WISQARS
(Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System). CDC,
NCIPC
An interactive system that provides customized
injury-related mortality data useful for research and for making
informed public health decisions. Death data come from a national
mortality database compiled by CDC's National Center for Health
Statistics. This database contains information from death
certificates filed in state vital-statistics offices. Population
data come from the Bureau of the Census.
Mortality data
from 1981-1997 are available by Year, Age, Race, Sex, Hispanic
Origin, and State. You can request reports by 5-year age ranges
(e.g., 0-4,5-9) or define your own (e.g 13-19). Race categories
are White, Black, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian and
Pacific Islander, and Other (which is all non-white and non-black
and may include other races not listed here). WISQARS does not
provide county-level injury mortality data.
- WONDER
(Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiological Research).
CDC
The CDC Wonder Database for Searches & Queries
provides county, state and national injury mortality data. In
order to submit your injury mortality data requests using WONDER,
you will be asked to sign-on to the WONDER system. You may enter
anonymously or select a user name and password.
- Statewide Integrated Traffic
Records System (SWITRS), California Highway
Patrol
SWITRS processes all reported fatal and injury
collisions which occurred on California's state highways and all
other roadways, excluding private property. Data is abstracted
from motor vehicle traffic collision reports received from local
police and sheriff jurisdictions and from CHP field offices.
SWITRS includes only those deaths that occur within 30 days of the
crash. Injuries following a traffic collision includes the entire
range, from a report of pain without further medical care to
serious injuries requiring hospitalization. CA county-specific
data are available via email, phone, fax, and mail requests.
- Fatality Analysis
Reporting System (FARS)
Contains information on
all traffic crashes on public traffic ways resulting in a fatality
to a vehicle occupant or non-motorist, where the death occurs
within 30 days of the crash. In addition to age and gender
information, FARS also provides information on alcohol/drug
involvement and safety restraint use. The National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration maintains this dataset.
You can
perform your own custom data queries via the FARS Query
System. You can access FARS data at the state level by
contacting your FARS analyst. Data are available for every year
since FARS was established in 1975. Data on fatal motor vehicle
traffic crashes are gathered from CA's own source documents such
as those listed below, and are coded on standard FARS
forms:
- Police Accident Reports (PARS)
- State vehicle registration files
- State driver licensing files
- State Highway Department data
- Vital Statistics
- Death certificates
- Coroner/Medical examiner reports
- Hospital medical records
- Emergency medical service reports
- Federal Bureau of Investigations
(FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting-Supplemental Homicide
Reports.
A compilation of voluntary reporting of homicides
by local law enforcement agencies to the FBI. The FBI reports data
from the Uniform Crime Reports on a state-by-state basis. The
system provides access to county-level data on crimes reported and
arrests as provided to the FBI. This system covers about 98% of
the United States population. The data system usually
underestimates the actual incidence of homicides as compared to
the National Vital Statistics System for mortality data since
reporting of homicides is voluntary. Another limitation of this
dataset is ethnicity is determined by the reporting officer's
observation.
- EPICenter, California Department of Health Services, EPIC Branch
The EPICenter provides access to the most recent California statewide and county-specific injury data via standardized tables or through its powerful query system. Mortality and morbidity data is available.
- CA Office of
Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD)
In
California, E coded hospital discharge data is the only
population-based system for monitoring non fatal injuries.
Hospital discharge files contain information on patients
discharged from all non-Federal acute care hospitals licensed to
provide inpatient services in CA. Hospitalization charges, length
of stay and expected source of payment data are included in
hospital discharge files. County-specific data are available from
this database.
- Hospital-based Trauma Registries
No standardized trauma
registry data is available in California.
- Emergency Department Data
E coding of emergency
department data will begin in California in 2005. Emergency
department data is the only source that captures those injuries
that are self-transported, treated and released.
- EMS/Ambulance Run Reports
Emergency Medical Services
can provide information on circumstances that may not be recorded
in an emergency room. EMS can get first hand information at the
scene of the incident and can answer questions like whether the
child was strapped securely into a car seat, whether seat belts
were used, if alcohol was involved etc.
- California Poison Control
System (CPCS)
CPCS is a statewide network of
trained experts who provide the public with toll-free hotline
telephone information about treating poisoning exposures. CPCS
maintains computerized medical records of all calls averaging
about 900/day and generate statistics based on the calls
(demographic as well as exposure-related).
- EPIC Firearm Injury
Surveillance Program (FISP)
Uses several data
sources including death certificates, homicide reports, hospital
records, and telephone surveys to provide information on firearm
injuries in CA. Questions such as who is at risk, who is shot,
what are the circumstances of the shooting, are studied under the
system. EPIC is also working with health economists at the
University of California, San Francisco to find out more about the
costs of firearm injuries. FISP has linked homicide files with
death certificates for 1990 through 1995, provided information to
legislators considering firearm laws, and analyzed patterns of gun
ownership and storage in homes with children. Soon EPIC hopes to
expand firearm injury surveillance to surveillance of all
violence-related injuries. Contact Jason Van Court (916) 445-3642
or e-mail jvancour@dhs.ca.gov for more information on this
program.
- EPIC Fatal Child Abuse
and Neglect Surveillance Program, CA DHS
EPIC
Branch, in conjunction with the State Child Death Review Council
and local Child Death Review Teams (CDRT), have developed a state
monitoring system for child abuse and neglect fatalities. The CAN
Surveillance Program conducts an annual reconciliation audit of
three state databases (DHS Vital Statistics Death Records,
Department of Justice Homicide Files and Child Abuse Central
Index) in conjunction with local CDRT case reviews to establish
more accurate information on fatal child abuse. Contact Steve
Wirtz, Ph.D. (916) 445-8803/swirtz@dhs.ca.gov for more information
on this program.
- California Healthy Kids
Survey (CHKS)
California will be switching from
the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) to the California Healthy
Kids Survey, a comprehensive youth health and risk behavior data
collection service available to all California local education
agencies. The CHKS can be used to assess:
- use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs
- violence, school safety, gang involvement, and delinquency
- nutrition and physical activity
- sexual behavior
- exposure to prevention and intervention activities
- risk and protective (resiliency) factors
The
CHKS provides local, state, and national comparisons. Survey
questions are drawn primarily from the national Youth Risk
Behavior Survey and the California Student Substance Use Survey.
For further information, call toll-free 888.841.7536.
- Behavioral Risk
Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)
Telephone
survey tracking health risks in the U.S. Injury questions include
seatbelt use, restraint use among persons <16 years, bicycle
helmet use, and presence of smoke detector in home. State and
county-level data are
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