Injury resulting from motor vehicle collisions is the leading cause of death for US citizens age 1 through 34. This includes victims who were the driver or occupant of a motor vehicle or struck by a motor vehicle. Trauma to motor vehicle occupants during crashes is the fourth leading cause of non fatal injuries treated in emergency departments (ED) nationally, with annual ED visits totaling over 2.6 million patients. Unpublished reviews of death certificates indicate that less than half of all fatal crash victims die at the scene; those who die later are potentially preventable. Until “zero crashes” is a reality on the nation’s roadways, effective emergency medical services and trauma care remain the only mechanism to approach “zero deaths”.The state and territorial EMS offices do not have a roadmap for how best to move towards unified and effective practices related first to the safety of EMS personnel responding to, operating at the scene of, or transporting patients from roadway incidents and secondly to the critical difference that can be made in patient outcomes when an emergency care system functions in an optimal manner. A national strategic highway safety plan will provide an important opportunity to partner within and between states and nationally across disciplines in an unprecedented way. (Author/publisher)
Abstract