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Using Surveillance Data To Inform Community Action: The Effect Of Alcohol Sale Restrictions On Intentional Injury-Related Ambulance Pickups, Saba W. Masho, Diane L. Bishop, Torey Edmonds, Albert D. Farrell

Family Medicine and Population Health Publications

Youth violence disproportionately affects inner city, urban minority communities in the USA. This article illustrates the use of surveillance data to inform and evaluate community action directed at this serious problem. Community efforts in response to surveillance data indicating high rates of violence surrounding convenience stores with unrestricted alcohol beverage licenses provided a natural experiment to examine the impact of imposing licensing restrictions on intentional injury rates. Rates of ambulance pickups for intentional injuries in the 15- to 24-year-old population in five census tracts where alcoholic beverage sales were restricted were compared to five census tracts with similar demographic characteristics …