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THE NATIONAL
ELECTRONIC INJURY SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM
WHAT IS NEISS?
The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) is a
statistically valid, injury surveillance system operated by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
NEISS monitors injuries treated in selected emergency departments nationally.
Ninety-three representative hospitals across the country contribute data to
NEISS.
The primary purpose of NEISS has been to provide timely data on consumer
product-related injuries occurring in the United States. In the year 2000, CPSC
initiated an expansion of the system to collect data on all injuries, including
those not related to consumer products.
With the expansion, NEISS became an even more important public health
research tool. The number, types and severity of injuries treated in hospital
emergency departments nationwide can be projected.
Information gathered from NEISS provides evidence for:
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Product recalls
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Public awareness campaigns
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Product safety standards
HOW ARE DATA COLLECTED?
The data collection process begins when a patient enters the emergency
department for treatment of an injury. The emergency department staff obtain
critical information about the injury and enter that information in the
patient’s electronic medical record. Patient records are then reviewed for data
relating to NEISS criteria. The injury information is transcribed in coded form
and electronically sent to CPSC.
For some incidents identified at the NEISS surveillance level, follow back
studies are conducted through telephone interviews with the patient or the
patient’s family. Study reports provide information about the likely causes of
the incident. This information is used to classify incidents by hazard pattern,
provide insight into the types of action needed to reduce or eliminate the hazards,
identify defective products and evaluate the effectiveness of safety standards.
IMPORTANCE
OF INJURY SURVEILLANCE
Injuries are the leading cause of death and disability to persons age 1
to 44 years in Ohio and across the United States. Injury surveillance, or the
systematic collection of injury data, is an important component of injury
prevention. Surveillance efforts have
demonstrated that most injuries follow predictable patterns and are therefore,
preventable. Injury surveillance has enabled researchers, legislators,
educators and advocates to understand what type, where, when and to whom
injuries occur in order to target prevention interventions appropriately and
evaluate their effectiveness.
Because of the critical role that surveillance
plays in prevention, it is important for hospital staff and health care
providers to carefully document the circumstances surrounding an injury and its
treatment. It is also important for parents to understand why questions may be
asked of them. The more that is known about injuries, the better that injuries
can be prevented.
NEISS AT NATIONWIDE CHILDREN’S
HOSPITAL
Nationwide Children’s Hospital is among a network of 93 hospitals and
one of 7 pediatric hospitals across the country contributing consumer
product-related injury data to NEISS. Nationwide Children’s Hospital is also
one of 61 hospitals providing data for all other injuries treated in the
emergency department. The NEISS program
at Nationwide Children’s Hospital falls under the direction of the Center for
Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute. The Nationwide Children’s
Hospital emergency department is one of the busiest in the United States. More
than 100,000 children are treated annually. Over 25,000 injury cases are
reported to NEISS in a calendar year.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Cindy Coe
NEISS Project Manager
cindy.coe@nationwidechildrens.org
(614) 722-2400
(614) 722-2448 Fax
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For additional information on NEISS, please visit:
Or contact:
Cindy Coe
NEISS Project Manager
Email Me
(614) 722-2400
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