Prevalence and Patterns of Injury-Related Mortality in Nevada

Too many lives are lost to injury in the United States and in Nevada. Nearly 200,000 people in our country die each year from injuries, which is equivalent to one death every three minutes (CDC 2017b). Each of these deaths not only extinguishes a life, but also affects the friends, family, and community of the deceased. And deaths from injury are costly: researchers estimate that costs from fatal injuries exceed $200 billion (CDC 2017b). Injury refers to damage to the body from some external force, such as from a car crash or a fall, including kinetic, chemical, electrical, thermal or other forces. There are multiple types of death from injury. Health researchers and policymakers classify injuries as unintentional or intentional, and if intentional, injury deaths are further classified as either suicide or homicide. Researchers and policymakers further categorize injuries by the mechanism or circumstances of the injury (such as motor vehicle crash, poisoning, or firearm)