Firearm injuries send patients to the emergency department every 30 minutes, on average, according to a new CDC study examining trends from nine states and Washington, D.C.
The study, published April 15 in Annals of Internal Medicine, is the largest to date to assess temporal trends in firearm-related ED visits. Researchers analyzed more than 93,000 ED visits across the 10 jurisdictions between January 2018 and August 2023 using data from the CDC’s Firearm Injury Surveillance Through Emergency Rooms program.
Four study findings:
1. The overall firearm injury ED visit rate was 73.9 per 100,000 visits — equivalent to about one firearm-related ED visit every half hour.
2. ED visits increased throughout the day, peaking between 2:30 and 3:00 a.m.
3. Rates were higher on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays compared to weekdays.
4. Higher rates of firearm injuries were also recorded on holidays, with the highest daily rate observed on the Fourth of July.
“Our findings highlight significant temporal clustering of firearm injury ED visits, emphasizing the importance of evidence-based resource allocation and the need for targeted interventions during peak times,” researchers said.
While the findings may not be nationally representative, researchers said the insights could help inform healthcare staffing and emergency preparedness efforts, potentially reducing firearm-related mortality rates.
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