Combating car accidents by examining the causes

CMAJ 2000;163(1):75

"All injuries are predictable and preventable, but we can't really say why people are getting injured [in motor vehicle accidents]," says Mohammed Naseem Hoque, a graduate student in the Department of Public Health Sciences.

Researchers Mohammed Naseem Hoque (front) and Dr. Louis Francescutti are collaborating with Edmonton police officers such as Constable Tedd Benesch to reduce the number of car accidents. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alberta)

Hoque and Dr. Louis Francescutti, an emergency physician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, are working with the Edmonton police at the scenes of serious car crashes, where they document the causes of injuries. They then follow patients to the trauma centres at the Royal Alexandra and University of Alberta hospitals, where they document the injuries and further analyse the causes.

In the era before crash test dummies, physicians sometimes went to crash sites, explains Francescutti. "Crash test dummies have provided a lot of information, but they have taken us away from the real world. Forming this relationship with police officers allows us the opportunity to give them back preventive strategies that they can apply almost immediately."

Since last fall, the researchers have collected data on 31 injuries from 23 accidents; they wrapped up their work last month.

Eventually, they would like to have a permanent injury prevention team in place in Edmonton, perhaps one that includes a retired police traffic accident reconstructionist. "If you drive by a fire, you'll see a truck that says Fire Investigation, or if you drive by a crime scene, you'll see a truck that sees Crime Scene Investigation," says Francescutti. "We would want emergency medical services to have Injury Investigation as part of the way they do business."

Edmonton's emergency physicians appear interested in the project. "As we show up in the trauma rooms, we are able to convey to them a better sense of what the accident scene looked like, and it helps them look for injuries that they may not have suspected," says Francescutti. Soon, he and Hoque hope to begin sending digital images of accident scenes to emergency rooms before patients arrive. Francescutti hopes this kind of information will hasten the decision-making process.

"If the medical community focused on this aspect of medicine, we could save a lot of money and a lot of lives," says Hoque. — Heather Kent, Vancouver

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