In 2004, the National Cooperative Highway ResearchProgram (NCRHP) completed their StrategicHighway Safety Plan. The third section of this plan focused on Rural Emergency Medical Services in conjunction with the high number of rural traffic fatalities each year. Their report showed that rural areas not only suffer from a large number of traffic fatalities but also a larger degree of fatal car crashes per vehicle miles traveled (see the two graphs above). Furthermore, these areas also have a significantly slower EMS response time. This, in particular, is cause for
worry since there is a direct correlation between length of response time and increase in the severity of an injury. As shown in the figure on the right, the average EMS response times in rural areas are approximately 17 min longer than those in urban areas. This, as the safety plan suggested, can be attributed to many different factors including the increased distance between the accident and the closest first responders. Another cause for delay, as Stacy Vogel discussed in her article, is the fact that many rural responders are volunteers and they must first travel to the station before heading out to the scene. While these delays are unavoidable, there are other ways to help reduce response-to-treatment time which, in turn, will also help to reduce the progression of more serious injuries.
Last week, Washington Hospital Center announced a mobile application which has the potential to significantly improve patient care. This secure device has the ability to stream real-time audio and video from moving ambulances to their emergency center destination. This, as Potts explains, will allow trauma personnel to gather basic information while the patient is in transit as opposed to waiting until the patient is already in the hospital emergency room. This would then allow doctors to start treatment immediately, thereby reducing the time between injury and treatment. Although the device is not widely available and is only being used to help cardiac patients in route to the hospital, Washington Hospital Center hopes that, in the future, the device will become widely utilized and can then be used to start evaluating trauma cases. Although CodeHeart is not yet a viable option for many rural areas, the promise of such a device offers hope at improving the current standards of rural medicine, particularly response time.
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