About Our Programs
Injury prevention/public education programs begin with the collection and analysis of population and patient data from a wide variety of sources to describe the status of injury morbidity, mortality and distribution throughout the state. Injury epidemiology is concerned with the evaluation of the frequency, rates and pattern of injury events in a population and is obtained by analyzing data from sources such as death records, hospital discharge databases and data from EMS, Emergency Departments and trauma registries. Trauma systems must develop strategies that help prevent injury as part of an integrated, coordinated and inclusive trauma system. For years, the IDOH has conducted an array of injury prevention programs. With the creation of the new IDOH Trauma and Injury Prevention Division in 2011, we have shifted our focus from injury prevention programming to the collection and analysis of injury data (epidemiology) and recognized best practices in the injury field, which we can push out to those around the state conducting impressive and far-reaching injury prevention programming. The IDHS and other Indiana state agencies also conduct injury prevention/education activities.
Injury Prevention Advisory Council (IPAC)
Mission: The mission of the Injury Prevention Advisory Council (IPAC) is to reduce the number and severity of preventable injuries in Indiana through leadership and advocacy.
Goal: Through improved collection and dissemination of data and coordination of injury prevention and control efforts, the Indiana Department of Health will reduce injury-related morbidity and mortality in Indiana.
Vision: Working together to create a safe and injury free Indiana.
Indiana Injury Prevention Advisory Council Terms of Reference
Indiana Violent Death Reporting System (INVDRS)
Indiana is one of 50 states (including D.C. and Puerto Rico) to receive funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to collect violent death data using the National Violent Death Reporting System. The purpose of the funding is to improve the planning, implementation, and evaluation of violence prevention programs. The grant will be administered by the Indiana Department of Health’s Division of Trauma and Injury Prevention.
The Indiana Violent Death Reporting System (INVDRS) will gather vital records data, law enforcement records, and coroner reports into one central web-based registry in order to better understand the circumstances of violent deaths, including homicides, suicides, undetermined intent deaths, and unintentional firearm deaths. The CDC provides funding to utilize the software and to implement an abstraction process (people, technical support, etc.) to combine the data. The coding manual used by the record abstractors can be found here. The coding manual includes information on what data elements are collected and the definition of the element.
If you would like to request data from INVDRS, please fill out this form and send to Morgan Sprecher at msprecher@health.in.gov.