Post-crash – a new focus area for PICTA

Together with SAFER, PICTA is now focusing on what is within road safety often called “post-crash”: reactions and measures to reduce injuries and fatalities for everyone involved after a traffic accident. Research suggests that two-thirds of those who die in crashes do so within the first hour, but also that up to one-third of deaths can be prevented if the right action is taken quickly. WHO considers post-crash one of the five pillars to be addressed within “The Decade of Action for Road Safety,” which highlights just how much there is to be done in this area.   

Because PICTA focuses on eHealth/ICT to promote prehospital healthcare all the way from detection of the incident, via emergency calls and prioritizing, to the right level of care at the right place, post-crash is a natural fit within these activities. PICTA’s knowledge and network helps SAFER better handle these issues within the broader area of road safety. 

There are already projects underway at PICTA related to post-crash, for example around clinical decision-making support in connection with trauma and more efficient incident assessment and prioritizing (Via Appia). Through cooperation, different initiatives to jointly develop the area can be better realized.

“This is an area we can develop and do a lot of good in by utilizing and improving the activities and research surrounding, for example, trauma, at Chalmers and MedTech West,” says Bengt Arne Sjöqvist, Project Manager for PICTA at Lindholmen Science Park.

Read more:

Via Appia
SAFER
WHO Decade of Action for Road Safety
WHO Document post-crash