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Evaluating the Potential Benefits of Advanced Automatic Crash Notification

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2017

Rebecca E. Plevin
Affiliation:
Department of Trauma Surgery, Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, Washington USA
Robert Kaufman
Affiliation:
Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington USA
Laura Fraade-Blanar*
Affiliation:
Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington USA
Eileen M. Bulger
Affiliation:
Department of Trauma Surgery, Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, Washington USA
*
Correspondence: Laura Fraade-Blanar, PhD Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center 325 Ninth Ave, Box 359960 Seattle, Washington 98104-2499 USA E-mail: lblanar@uw.edu
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Abstract

Objective

Advanced Automatic Collision Notification (AACN) services in passenger vehicles capture crash data during collisions that could be transferred to Emergency Medical Services (EMS) providers. This study explored how EMS response times and other crash factors impacted the odds of fatality. The goal was to determine if information transmitted by AACN could help decrease mortality by allowing EMS providers to be better prepared upon arrival at the scene of a collision.

Methods

The Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) database of the US Department of Transportation/National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (USDOT/NHTSA; Washington DC, USA) was searched for all fatal crashes between 1996 and 2012. The CIREN database also was searched for illustrative cases. The NHTSA’s Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and National Automotive Sampling System Crashworthiness Data System (NASS CDS) databases were queried for all fatal crashes between 2000 and 2011 that involved a passenger vehicle. Detailed EMS time data were divided into prehospital time segments and analyzed descriptively as well as via multiple logistic regression models.

Results

The CIREN data showed that longer times from the collision to notification of EMS providers were associated with more frequent invasive interventions within the first three hours of hospital admission and more transfers from a regional hospital to a trauma center. The NASS CDS and FARS data showed that rural collisions with crash-notification times >30 minutes were more likely to be fatal than collisions with similar crash-notification times occurring in urban environments. The majority of a patient’s prehospital time occurred between the arrival of EMS providers on-scene and arrival at a hospital. The need for extrication increased the on-scene time segment as well as total prehospital time.

Conclusion

An AACN may help decrease mortality following a motor vehicle collision (MVC) by alerting EMS providers earlier and helping them discern when specialized equipment will be necessary in order to quickly extricate patients from the collision site and facilitate expeditious transfer to an appropriate hospital or trauma center.

PlevinRE , KaufmanR , Fraade-BlanarL , BulgerEM . Evaluating the Potential Benefits of Advanced Automatic Crash Notification. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2017;32(2):156–164.

Information

Type
Original Research
Copyright
© World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2017 
Figure 0

Table 1 Demographic, Crash, and Hospital Data by Crash-Notification Time

Figure 1

Figure 1 Case Study 1: Exterior Damage to the Front of the Vehicle.

Figure 2

Figure 2 Case Study 1: Interior of Vehicle, Front-Right Passenger Position.

Figure 3

Figure 3 Case Study 2: Exterior Damage to the Vehicle.

Figure 4

Table 2 Distribution of Crash-Notification Times, from FARS Data

Figure 5

Figure 4 Total Prehospital Time by Quartile, from FARS Data. Each quartile is divided into time segments: crash notification, notification to EMS arrival, and EMS arrival to hospital arrival. Data are presented as median times, in minutes. Abbreviations: EMS, Emergency Medical Services; FARS, Fatality Analysis Reporting System.

Figure 6

Figure 5 Median Total Prehospital Time, Urban versus Rural, from FARS Data. Each group is divided into time segments: crash notification, notification to EMS arrival, and EMS arrival to hospital arrival. Data are presented as median times, in minutes. Abbreviations: EMS, Emergency Medical Services; FARS, Fatality Analysis Reporting System.

Figure 7

Figure 6 Percentage of Fatal Crashes by Crash-Notification Time, from FARS Data. Results are presented separately for crashes occurring in urban and rural locations. Crash-notification times are presented as median times, in minutes. Abbreviation: FARS, Fatality Analysis Reporting System.

Figure 8

Figure 7 Box Plots of the Median, 25th, and 75th Percentile EMS Arrival-to-Hospital Arrival Times. Separated into patients requiring extrication and those not requiring extrication. Data were obtained from the FARS database and is presented as median times, in minutes. Abbreviations: EMS, Emergency Medical Services; FARS, Fatality Analysis Reporting System.

Figure 9

Figure 8 Median Prehospital Time by Entrapment, from NASS CDS Data. Each group is divided into time segments: crash notification, notification to EMS arrival, EMS arrival to EMS departure, and EMS departure to hospital arrival. Data are presented as median times, in minutes. Abbreviations: EMS, Emergency Medical Services; NASS CDS, National Automotive Sampling System Crashworthiness Data System.

Figure 10

Table 3 Odds of Fatality by Time Segment,a from NASS CDS Data