PHOTOGRAPH DOCUMENTATION OF MOTOR-VEHICLE DAMAGE BY EMTS AT THE SCENE- A PROSPECTIVE MULTICENTER STUDY IN THE UNITED-STATES

The purpose of this study was to determine if emergency medical servic e (EMS) personnel could take instant photographs of motor vehicle dama ge at crash scenes depicting the area and severity of damage of the cr ash under adverse weather conditions, in different lighting, and quick ly enough so as not to interfere with patient care. This prospective m ulticenter trial involved 35 ambulances responding to motor vehicle cr ash scenes in rural, suburban, and urban areas in five centers in four states. Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) reported their experienc e implementing a protocol for use of an instant camera to photograph v ehicle damage at crash scenes. Time reported by EMTs to take the photo graphs was 1 minute or less in 204 of 288 (70.9%) of motor vehicle cra shes and 2 minutes or longer in 12 of 288 (4.2%) of motor vehicle cras hes. From one EMS agency in the study, 48 scene times during which pho tographs were taken were, on average, 1.5 minutes shorter than 48 scen e times immediately before implementation of on-scene crash photograph y. Photographs were taken in different weather and lighting conditions . EMTs reported they were able to determine both area and severity of damage in 260 of 290 (92.5%) crash photographs, but they were unable t o determine area and severity of damage in only 2 of 290 (0.7%) crash photographs. Copyright (C) 1997 by W.B. Saunders Company.