Project

IPCaR - Improving the Pre-hospital Care Process for Victims in Road Traffic Accidents

Period
13 June 2011–31 August 2013
Project manager
Stefan Candefjord

It is of utmost importance that seriously injured crash victims receive appropriate hospital care as soon as possible after the crash. Several studies show that swift medical attention, within the Golden Hour, is fundamental for the clinical outcome. The pre-hospital care process for road accidents is impeded by difficulties with identifying the patients in need of immediate treatment among the large number of patients that suffer minor injuries. Occult injuries have become increasingly more common due to the use of effective restraint systems with airbags in modern vehicle fleets. Many lives could be saved if seriously injured victims could be recognized in an early phase, and the likelihood for specific internal injuries could be assessed. eHealth solutions with algorithms that can predict injury type and severity from information about the crash and each patient's vital data recorded in the ambulance have the potential to increase the efficiency of the pre-hospital care process. By assisting health care personnel in making a quick and correct choice of treatment strategy, eHealth tools could prevent many deaths and decrease the rate of patients that are disabled for life after a crash. Head injuries are a common cause of death in road accidents, especially for children in motor vehicle crashes, in motorcycle crashes and in accidents involving vulnerable road users such as pedestrians. The chances of surviving life­ threatening  head injuries are much better when treatment is received without significant delay after trauma. Severe head injuries can often be asymptomatic at first. Microwave tomography has shown promising results for detection of intracranial bleedings in stroke patients. The method  may also be valuable for detecting typical intracranial hemorrhages, such as subdural hematomas, in crash victims. If  bleedings could be detected already in the ambulance the time to treatment could be significandy shortened. This could improve the clinical outcome for crash victims with severe head injuries.

Short facts

Research area
Post crash
Financier(s)

SAFER

Partners

SAFER, Chalmers

Project no

E6

Project type
Project