Firearm-Related Hospital Admissions Drop 25% in PA

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

pennsylvania has seen over a 25 percent drop in gun-related hospital admissions since 1997, according to the pennsylvania health care cost containment council. however, the council also reports the average charge for individual hospitalization of these victims has jumped an astonishing 87 percent. the council reports that the cumulative hospital charge these victims -- $127 million -- was almost double the cost of hospital treatment in 1997. over 21 percent of the firearm-related injury victims in 2002 were without health insurance, leaving the government's medical assistance program to pay for about half of the hospitalizations that year.

i've also noticed, my homecare agency getting less requests for instruction in wound care for gsw patients in the past 6 months; however every one had some form of ma.

philadelphia has been making some inroads on decreasing violence in the home with many community groujps taking a stand saying "no more".

[oramar]

I think that the greater Pittsburgh area might be the exception to this decline. We are in the midst of a round of gang/drug related violence that started about two years ago. Nearly every morning the first five minutes of the news is devoted to who got shot last night. Perhaps the population of the Eastern part of the state is so great that the increase in the Western part of the state just does not have much of an effect on the statistics.

[2ndCareerRN]

I was unable to go to your link.

Any particular reasons behind the drop in admissions? I know that we send a lot more GSW home now rather than admit them. Many of the superficial wounds we used to admit for are now being treated and streeted. It makes more sense to send a through and through arm or leg wound home, with instructions for follow up, than it does to tie up an inpatient bed for 1-2 days.

bob