Firearm violence continues to be a topic of concern for many Americans, and North Carolina is no exception. In 2021, 1,839 persons were killed by firearm violence in North Carolina, making it the state with the 8th highest fatality rate in the United States (17.4 deaths per 100,000 residents). This means more than five people are dying daily from firearm violence. This project set out to better understand how firearm injuries, fatal and nonfatal, affect the state and to show those trends visually.
A UNC-based team, funded through an APHA/CDC Data Science Demonstration Project Grant, analyzed place-based firearm violence trends in the state of North Carolina using 2021-2022 Emergency Medical Services (EMS) response data, for incidents at non-healthcare related locations. We developed data visualizations to demonstrate to public health practitioners, policymakers, and community members that firearm violence impacts all North Carolinians.
Figures 1 through 3 provide examples of some of the data visualizations created as part of this project.
Figure 1 displays the number of EMS responses related to firearm violence by United States Census tract, with Census tracts that had more incidents being shaded darker.
Figure 1. Number of Incidents of Firearm Violence in North Carolina (2021-2022) recorded by NC EMS
Figure 2 displays selected demographic characteristics of victims treated by EMS following an assault by firearm. As demonstrated in Figure 2, individuals belonging to certain racial/ethnic and age groups have a higher incidence of assaults.
Figure 2. Snapshot from the StoryMap allowing users to view changes in the rate of firearm violence by hand-coded intent type
Finally, Figure 3 acknowledges that firearm violence is associated with social determinants of health (e.g., access to education, employment, wealth). Individuals living in communities with lower access to social determinants of health, as indicated by higher scores on the CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), are potentially at a greater risk of experiencing firearm violence, as well as other adverse health outcomes. Visitors to the StoryMap can toggle back and forth between the SVI map and the map of firearm injury incidence to better understand the relationship between health disparities and community levels of firearm violence.
Figure 3. A sliding bar allows viewers to see both the Social Vulnerability Index or SVI, (left) as well as rates of firearm violence in North Carolina (2021-2022) (right) recorded by NC EMS
Resources for understanding community efforts working toward the prevention of firearm violence, as well as information about safe firearm storage, are also included in this StoryMap.
Please view the full StoryMap for more details.
Disclaimers:
EMS data attribution & disclaimer: The NC OEMS and the NC EMS Data System supports state, regional and local EMS and healthcare related service delivery from a patient care, resource allocation, and regulatory perspective. This manuscript was not prepared in collaboration with investigators for the NC EMS Data System and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of NC OEMS, ESO or the study sites participating in the NC EMS Data System.
APHA/CDC Disclaimer: This work was supported by an AHPA/CDC Data Science Demonstration Project Award (2023-0005). All findings and conclusions reported here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the CDC and/or APHA.