The University of Michigan announced on Apr. 7 the launch of a new system that provides near real-time data on firearm injuries across the state. The Michigan Firearm Injury Near Real-Time Data System, known as Mi-FINDS, was developed by the university’s Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention in partnership with the state of Michigan.
The availability of timely and localized data is expected to help public health officials, injury prevention practitioners, and public safety personnel tailor their response strategies to incidents involving firearms. Previously, official firearm injury and death data were only available through the Centers for Disease Control approximately 18 months after incidents occurred and only at the county level.
Mi-FINDS improves tracking processes by collaborating with medical examiners in most Michigan counties, including major ones. The dashboard allows authorized users to view incidents below county-level detail, enabling communities to observe trends within neighborhoods. Jason Goldstick, emergency medicine research professor and co-director of the institute’s data and methods core, said: “The CDC data is still very much a solid source of information that will help guide science-based firearm injury prevention efforts, particularly over broad time horizons. But having information that is more readily available and closer to the incident date and location is going to be crucial in implementing tailored prevention programs and options for communities based on recent spatial trends.”
County-level data—such as running totals for incidents involving firearms each year, rates per 100,000 people by county, incident counts by date—is now publicly accessible via the dashboard. More detailed sub-county level information requires approval for access by authorized public safety or health professionals.
Patrick Carter, professor of emergency medicine and co-director of the institute said: “Having a data system where users can search by demographic, manner of death and location, among other things, is invaluable to this field of study. The goal is to make this data accessible and available at a broad scale so communities can better understand where the needs are and tailor prevention strategies more appropriately and more immediately.” Natasha Bagdasarian, chief medical executive for Michigan said: “Gun violence affects every type of community in Michigan—rural and urban, large and small—and it shows up in different ways depending on where you live. As a public health professional I know that we can’t prevent what we can’t see clearly… This kind of timely accessible data is empowering.”
According to the official website, University of Michigan Ann Arbor stands as a public research university offering diverse undergraduate through professional programs across its schools; it also extends its reach through campuses in Dearborn and Flint while working to advance knowledge both locally in Ann Arbor—where its main campus sits—and beyond.
