The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Ground Ambulance Crashes

35 Pages·2014·1.61 MB·English

by  Mirinda Gormley

The National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration and Ground
Ambulance Crashes
April 2014
Objectives
 The purpose of this presentation is to provide an
overview of roadway ambulance crashes in the U.S.
and show how the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA):

Uses databases to record/analyze Ambulance
•
Crashes
Investigates Ambulance Crashes
•
Documents and Reports on Ambulance Crashes
•
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Administrator

Deputy
Administrator

Director,
Chief Counsel
Intergovernmental

Affairs
Policy & Operations Traffic Injury Control Vehicle Safety
National Center
Research and Regional Operations Vehicle Safety
Rulemaking Enforcement For Statistics
Program Development And Program Delivery Research
And Analysis
Impaired
Behavioral Emergency
Driving Safety
Safety Medical
& Occupant Programs
Research Services
Protection

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The Office of Emergency Medical
Services (OEMS)

Mission Statement
To reduce death and disability by providing leadership and coordination to
the EMS community in assessing, planning, developing, and promoting
comprehensive, evidence-based emergency medical services and 9-1-1 systems.

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The NHTSA Approach to Ground
Ambulance Safety
 Collect comprehensive traffic crash data and conduct
research

 Collaborate with national organizations & Federal
partners to provide EMS leaders with the information
they need to improve ground ambulance safety

 Foster consensus around strategies to promote safe
EMS systems

 Support projects of national significance to accelerate
improvements in ground ambulance safety
Comprehensive Traffic Crash Data
Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS)
 FARS is a nationwide census of fatal traffic crashes within the 50 states and
DC and Puerto Rico*

National Automotive Sampling System General Estimates System (NASS GES)
 NASS GES data are obtained from a nationally representative probability
sample selected from police-reported crashes

Data collected can be used to:
 Identify highway safety problem areas
 Provide a basis for regulatory and consumer information initiatives
 Evaluate cost and benefit analyses of highway safety initiatives
 Identify behaviors involved in crashes and develop countermeasures to
deter unsafe behaviors

*Data from Puerto Rico are not included in this presentation
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NHTSA and Ground Ambulance
Crashes

 Analyzing
 Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS)
 National Automotive Sampling System General Estimates System
(NASS GES)

 Investigating
 Special Crash Investigations (SCI)
 Supports an EMS worker nonfatal injury survey conducted by the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health using the National
Electronic Injury Surveillance System work supplement (NEISS-Work).

 Documenting and National Reporting
 Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC)
 Annual NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts

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An Overview of Ground Ambulance
Crashes in the US
Between 1992-2011 (20 years), there were an annual estimated
mean of 4,500 motor vehicle traffic crashes involving an
ambulance.

Of these crashes:
 65% resulted in property damage (only)
 34% resulted in an injury/injuries
 <1% resulted in a fatality/fatalities

*Injuries and fatalities include occupants in all cars involved in a traffic crash
involving an ambulance

Sources: NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 1992-2010 Final and 2011 Annual Report File (ARF) and National Automotive Sampling
System (NASS) General Estimates System (GES),1992-2011
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Estimated Annual Traffic Crashes
involving an Ambulance 1992-2011
3000
Property
2500
Damage
Only
2000

s
e Injury
h
s 1500
a
r
C
1000
Fatal
500
0
1992-1996 1997-2001 2002-2006 2007-2011
Year
9 *bar represents mean number of crashes over 5 years *Injuries and fatalities include occupants in all cars involved in a traffic crash involving an ambulance
Sources: NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 1992-2010 Final and 2011 Annual Report File (ARF) and National Automotive Sampling System (NASS)
General Estimates System (GES),1992-2011
Analyzing Ambulance Crashes
 Fatality Analysis Reporting
System (FARS)
 National Automotive
Sampling System General
Estimates System (NASS
GES)

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