So with injury data we run a little bit behind in terms of what we know. The experts are caught up to what took place and what we learned from the year 2020. That is because this is the most recent year for which complete data is available.

We don’t have all the analysis done for 2021 & we are only nearing the summer solstice and halfway mark of year 2022 as I write this blog post on June 15. Actually it is July 2nd that is the true middle day of the year. July 2 is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 182 days remain until the end of the year, according to Wikipedia.

With regard to the year 2020, it was a bad year, in terms of how the ranks of injury statistics go year by year.

For unintentional injuries, a category which includes opioid overdoses (unintentional poisoning), motor vehicle crashes, and unintentional falls, these unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for Americans ages 1 – 44. The total number of unintentional injuries for 2020 was 80,200 well above year 2019’s 63,000. Also, suicides which became the second leading cause of death for Americans and steadily on the rise since 2012 reached a grim high in 2020 of 22,4000. And finally homicide as an injury category moved up to the 3rd leading cause of death for this age group with 18,800 recorded in year 2020.

Some key areas of concern for communities drawn from 2020 are:

Opioids overdoses were at their highest level: Opioids were involved in 68,630 overdose deaths in 2020 (74.8% of all drug overdose deaths). In 2020, 45,222 people died from gun-related injuries in the U.S., according to the CDC. The 2020 U.S. gun deaths were up 14% in 1 year, 25% increase from 5 years ago & 43% increase from a decade prior. And car crashes, there were 38,824 fatalities in 2020. The deaths include pedestrians, cyclists and others who may have died during a crash and these are tracked by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration a Division of the Department of Transportation.

While these numbers are alarming we have to remember there were unique circumstances in 2020 with a global pandemic causing a drastic decline in jobs, rapid unemployment, more time spent isolated at home for many in America, and many cases, hospitalizations, and deaths from COVID-19 virus which traumatized and stressed the entire nation. Looking to the future, I’m optimistic we can learn a great deal from the injury events of 2020 and that the learning can advance injury prevention strategies going forward.