Firearm-related deaths and hospitalizations--Wisconsin, 1994.

Firearm-related injuries are a major cause of premature deaths in the United States. Although state-based vital records systems monitor fatal injuries, few surveillance systems exist to monitor nonfatal firearm-related injuries. Wisconsin is one of seven states funded by CDC cooperative agreements to establish firearm-related injury surveillance systems. Wisconsin's system, which links hospital discharge records and vital records, uses external cause of injury codes (E-codes) for case identification. This report describes the surveillance system and findings for 1994.