Injury surveillance in the Canadian Armed Forces: An environmental scan

Abstract

LAY SUMMARY Injuries can affect the operational readiness, wellness, and careers of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel. Many injuries are preventable; thus, it is important for the CAF to create a sustainable, accurate, and timely injury surveillance system (ISS) that can be used to describe injury incidence, populations at risk, and other causal factors to effectively direct injury prevention efforts. As a first step in the creation of an ISS, the authors conducted a rapid environmental scan that included a review of both the peer-reviewed scientific literature and publicly available information, along with an internal organization scan, to gather information on ISS facilitators, barriers, recommendations, data sources, and potential injury indicators. The results of this work will be used to plan the next steps in the development and implementation of the CAF ISS. In addition, this information can be used to facilitate engagement and collaboration with stakeholders and decision makers to ensure that the ISS collects and reports key data needed to target and prioritize interventions most likely to have the greatest impact on reducing injuries and improving the health and operational readiness of CAF personnel.