The AAST New Survey Methodology

The beginning point of any injury prevention program is to examine the data related to deaths and hospitalizations from injuries. Looking at actual numbers will help you discover who is dying and being disabled and the cause. With this information you should be able to make a list of which people are most likely to be injured and what types of injuries are most frequent. It can also reveal injuries that most likely require hospitalization and those that most often lead to deaths.

Example: Injuries on school playgrounds are common, though they rarely lead to death or permanent disability. Instead, there are many scrapes and bruises and an occasional broken bone. Your decision to start a prevention program for playground injuries will be based on careful weighing of the answers to "How many children are being hurt, how badly and what can be done to decrease those injuries?" and "Are there other injury problems causing, more death and disability that we should turn our energy and resources toward'?"

How extensive your data search will be depends on your resources and level of information that you need. Your need will be shaped by how narrowly you wish to define the target injury and the target population. The level of credibility and amount of convincing necessary to obtain resources and implement a program may also dictate the extend of data you need. Special studies and requests can often be arranged with local agencies such as your community hospital, university or college, or the state or local health department.