Injury Prevention

In 2006, 588 violent deaths occurred in New Mexico. Six incidents involved multiple victims, either as multiple victim homicides or a homicide followed by a suicide. Of the 588 violent deaths that occurred, 63.3% were suicides, 21.9% were homicides, 12.6% were deaths of undetermined intent and there were 1% each for unintentional firearms deaths and legal intervention deaths. Of the 588 violent deaths that occurred in 2006, 551, or 93.7%, were New Mexico residents.

Each year in the United States, more than 50,000 people die from acts of violence, including more than 32,000 deaths from suicide and 18,000 deaths from homicide. Many of these deaths are preventable. However, to design effective violence prevention strategies, an essential first step is to ensure the availability of complete, accurate and timely information, particularly with regard to the populations at risk and the circumstances and predisposing factors that contribute to deaths from violence.

In 2008, we report on 2007 domestic violence data and present a special supplement on long-awaited findings regarding sentencing in felony domestic violence cases. Approximately 15% of felony domestic violence cases from 2000-2005 statewide were dismissed, 58% of defendants received probation, 27% received a jail or prison sentence and the average sentence served after partial suspensions was 23 months.

This is the first report issued in the state to be derived from the New Mexico Department of Health’s Emergency Department-New Mexico Firearm Injury Surveillance System. In 2000, when gun-related injuries became a reportable condition, the Department of Health established the surveillance system to help track non-fatal injuries caused by guns as a starting point to become better informed on how to prevent them.

The New Mexico Injury Prevention Strategic Plan: 2008-2012 addresses the tremendous toll that injuries exact on our State – the pain and suffering, the cost, often the young lives lost or changed forever. It also acknowledges that change is needed to insure that effective, evidence-based injury prevention strategies are adequately funded and implemented.

This report reflects what incarcerated youth in New Mexico had to say about their own life history related to violence, how incarceration impacted their lives, and what risk and protective factors exist that will prevent or propel them into the adult system of incarceration after they are released from their current commitments. This information was retrieved through the use of focus groups that were designed specifically for this population of incarcerated youth.

In 2006, we conducted further analyses of the Survey of Violence Victimization in New Mexico data. Specifically, data on the prevalence and characteristics of child rape were examined. Some of the findings are particularly disturbing. For example, 72% of victims raped as children were victims of ongoing (serial) sexual abuse rather than a single incident of sexual abuse.

In 2006, we conducted further analyses of the Survey of Violence Victimization in New Mexico data. Specifically, the respondents’ beliefs about personal safety for women today, their own personal safety and which respondents are more likely to carry something to defend themselves were examined. These variables were analyzed by the respondents’ education level, race/ethnicity, and whether or not they have ever been a victim of violence.

Among the many revealing findings, we learned that 1 in 4 adult women and 1 in 20 adult men in New Mexico have been the victims of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime. Perhaps the most startling revelation was the prevalence of incapacitated rape. Among rape victims, 43% experienced an incapacitated rape in their lifetime. This translates into 1 in every 12 adult females and 1 in every 40 adult males.

Injury hurts New Mexico. Injuries affect all ages, races, and nationalities. They affect men and women, the healthy and the sick. They affect the survivors whose lives are changed forever and the loved ones left behind by a fatal injury. In 2004, injuries cost New Mexicans about $4 billion, and New Mexico ranked first nationally in unintentional injury deaths and was tied for second with Nevada for intentional injury deaths.

This report presents the results of the assessment under year one of the CDC planning grant. It provides information from youth surveys and other data sources to establish a “snapshot” of current trends in New Mexico. This assessment includes analysis of risk and resiliency/protective factors among New Mexico youth.

Everyone gets injured. Each year, one in four New Mexicans needs medical care for an injury. Injuries generate an estimated 781,000 medical visits, and just in New Mexico cost over $1.6 billion annually. In 2002, New Mexico ranked 1st nationally in total injury death rates and in unintentional (accidental) injury deaths, and was tied at the top for violent deaths with Nevada.

Data set includes all death certificates for the years 1998 through 2002 where the [Injury at Work] box has been checked. All deaths that occurred in New Mexico are included regardless of the residence of the worker. Work-related deaths of New Mexico residents that did not occur in New Mexico were excluded from the dataset.

Accidental deaths due to natural and environmental factors include such phenomena as excessive heat, excessive cold, other weather-related events, and injuries from animals. From 1990 through 1998, 300 accidental deaths caused by natural and environmental factors occurred in New Mexico.

In spite of radical fluctuations from year to year, the rate of death from accidental drowning in New Mexico has generally declined since 1979. The New Mexico drowning death rate has generally been higher than that for the United States overall. Nationally, the rate of drowning has dropped more steadily.