Preventability of vehicle-related fatalities

Several different methods have been used to evaluate the survivability of t raffic injuries. Previously published methods were reviewed to develop a sp ecific method for vehicle-related fatalities. All fatally injured victims ( n = 474) of vehicle-related crashes in the four northern-most counties of S weden during a 5-year period were studied. Almost half (48%) of the victims had non-survivable injuries. The remaining cases were classified into diff erent injury groups according to the Injury Severity Score (ISS) including 56 (12%) with an ISS < 25, 150 (32%) with ISS 25-49 and 42 (9%) with ISS 50 -74. The median distance from the scene to the nearest hospital was 49 km. In the cases with ISS < 50 the medical care was further analyzed. In close to half of these cases, the victim did not receive optimal care in time wit h transportation time being of major importance. The absence of first aid w as judged to have contributed to the death in 4% of the cases. (C) 2001 Els evier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.