Nail-Gun Injuries Triple: How Much Does it Matter?

Injuries from nail guns--those handy high-powered tools that propel nails into wood and, unfortunately, other objects like your body more easily than a hammer--have tripled among do-it-yourselfers over the past sixteen years, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control. And just so you wouldn't have to guess about the numbers, Dan Childs of ABC News reported that that means visits to the emergency room for nail-gun injuries jumped from "4,200 home users . . . in 1991 to about 14,800 in 2005."

That's a sign of good medical reporting. If Childs had left the statistic unanchored--reporting that nail gun injuries had tripled without giving the numbers, you wouldn't have a clear idea of the scope of the problem. Are talking about ten people, 100 people, or in this case, nearly 15,000 people?

Still, it make you wonder. Maybe this increase isn't so unexpected? After all, nail guns have become more widely available to home owners (as opposed to professional construction workers) over the years. If nail-gun use has also tripled, then the number of injuries is simply keeping pace with the popularity of nail guns.

Alas, the authors of the article in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report were unable to provide that kind of usage information. (Often good numbers are the hardest things to come by in medical stories.)

But the study authors did suggest one important safety feature could make a difference. Nail guns that are equipped with what's called a "sequential-trip trigger mechanism," meaning you can't just shoot nails automatically, may be associated with fewer injuries.

In another sign of thorough reporting, ABC's Childs picked up on that safety tip (which means he read to the bottom of the CDC report). Several other press accounts I read did not.

Sources: Nail-Gun Injuries Treated in Emergency Departments --- United States, 2001--2005, HJ Lipscomb et al, MMWR, April 13, 2007/56(14);329-332

Nail Gun Injuries Surge, Dan Childs, ABC News, April 13, 2007