Response to Public Comment B

Dear Ms. Levin and Mr. Magoon,

Thank you very much for your comments and recommendations regarding our federal registry notice.  The National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) team at CDC is always glad to receive feedback about our system from organizations such as yours that do critically important work, and we seek to continually improve our system to achieve the best quality surveillance data to inform prevention efforts and serve our partners and data users.

We appreciate your sharing the insights gained from the Illinois Violent Death Reporting System (IVDRS) strategic planning process.  You gave very nice examples of surveillance data “in action,” and we are encouraged to see that surveillance of violent deaths has been beneficial to the health and safety of Illinois residents. 

Thank you also for your comments regarding the adoption of electronic data systems by coroners and medical examiners.  It is helpful to hear from states about local experiences with the electronic records since these vary considerably, as you noted.  Part of the future vision for NVDRS includes increasing the timeliness of data collection, and widespread adoption of electronic data systems may facilitate this goal considerably.

Again, we appreciate your feedback and comments based on your experiences with the IVDRS.  If you have any further questions or comments, please feel free to contact Dr. Janet Blair at (770) 488-0049 or [email protected].

Sincerely,

Howard Spivak, MD

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

Director, Division of Violence Prevention

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Office: 770-488-1558

Cell: 678-982-5831

Fax: 770-488-4349

4770 Buford Highway, NE

MS. F-64

Atlanta, GA 30341