Nonfatal Firearm Injury Surveillance in U.S. Emergency Departments, 2023

Comprising surveillance data on over 100,000 estimated cases of nonfatal firearm and BB/pellet gun injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments in 2023. It was collected via the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) by the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. The data are designed to provide national incidence estimates and monitor injury trends over time.

Use Cases

• Analyze injury intent categories (e.g., unintentional, assault) across age and sex cohorts to identify high-risk demographics.
• Model the relationship between principal diagnosis and disposition at ED discharge (e.g., hospitalized, treated and released) to predict care outcomes.
• Examine the locale where the injury occurred to identify common settings for firearm-related incidents.
• Investigate the consumer products involved in injuries to assess the role of specific firearm or gun types.
• Use the narrative description of injury circumstances for natural language processing to classify incident patterns.

Strengths

• Based on over 100,000 estimated cases annually, providing substantial data for analysis.
• Data collection uses a stratified probability sample of U.S. hospitals, designed for national representativeness.
• Includes detailed case variables such as age, race/ethnicity, sex, diagnosis, body part, and injury intent.
• Monitors all nonfatal firearm injuries, expanding beyond the CPSC's standard consumer product scope.

Limitations

• Contains only nonfatal injuries treated in emergency departments; fatal injuries are excluded.
• As a sample-based surveillance system, estimates are subject to sampling error.
• Data are limited to the year 2023, providing a single-year snapshot without longitudinal context within this file.

Provenance

Source

United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

Collection Method

Collected via the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) from a stratified probability sample of U.S. hospitals with emergency departments.

Time Range

2023

Freshness

Data covers January through December 2023. The record was last updated in February 2026.

Geography

United States and its territories.