A new approach to road accident rescue

ABSTRACT

Objective: This article develops and validates a new methodology and tool for rescue assistance in traffic accidents, with the aim of improving its efficiency and safety in the evacuation of people, reducing the number of victims in road accidents.

Method: Different tests supported by professionals and experts have been designed under different circumstances and with different categories of damaged vehicles coming from real accidents and simulated trapped victims in order to calibrate and refine the proposed methodology and tool.

Results: To validate this new approach, a tool called App_Rescue has been developed. This tool is based on the use of a computer system that allows an efficient access to the technical information of the vehicle and sanitary information of the common passengers. The time spent during rescue using the standard protocol and the proposed method was compared.

Conclusion: This rescue assistance system allows us to make vital information accessible in posttrauma care services, improving the effectiveness of interventions by the emergency services, reducing the rescue time and therefore minimizing the consequences involved and the number of victims. This could often mean saving lives. In the different simulated rescue operations, the rescue time has been reduced an average of 14%.

Keywords:

• rescue time
• road accident rescue
• rescue sheet
• QR code
• golden hour
• firefighters
• health care services

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Fire Department of Avila as well as the MAPFRE Centre for Road Traffic Safety and Research (Spain) for the assistance given during the tests.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Security Science Institute “CISE” from the University of Salamanca.