Motor vehicle crashes on rural roads account for more than half of all highway fatalities in the United States, yet less than one-quarter of the population lives in rural areas. Many factors contribute to the high rural fatality rate, such as the challenge for emergency medical services (EMS) to be notified, locate, respond, stabilize, transport, and care for crash occupants in a timely and effective manner. This synthesis presents information on the state of the practice for a broad cross section of rural EMS system characteristics. The report identifies factors that may help reduce the time needed to provide effective medical care to crash occupants on rural roads. Information used in this study was acquired through a review of the literature and a survey of state departments of transportation and EMS offices in 14 states. Follow-up interviews with selected agencies provided additional information. (Author/publisher)
Abstract