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July 2008
Special Research Conference Issue: Concurrent Sessions
Researchers seek ways to save more lives on rural roads
Tom Horan, research director for the Center for Excellence in Rural Safety (CERS), along with CERS research manager Keith Knapp, Howard Preston of CH2MHill, Kate Garwood of Anoka County, and Robert Weinholzer of Mn/DOT participated on a panel about rural safety issues. CERS director Lee Munnich served as moderator.
Horan gave an overview of his latest research about rural health, safety, and emergency response, focusing on the role information can play in improving the timeliness and the quality of emergency response in rural areas.
In rural areas, the average emergency response time is 52 minutes, compared to 30 minutes in urban areas. According to Horan, this may partially explain why rural crashes are more likely to be fatal crashes, with 60 percent of all U.S. traffic fatalities occurring on rural roads, though only about 20 percent of the population lives in rural areas. Survivability for trauma patients is significantly improved if arrival to a hospital occurs in less than 30 minutes.
In 2007, Horan and CERS established a partnership with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, to develop a best-practices model for responding to emergencies in rural areas. The clinic, in addition to having a state-of-the-art emergency care and emergency communications department, owns the local ambulance provider as well as helicopter and air medical transport services. Representatives of every phase of emergency response participated in focus groups with Horan and research associate Ben Schooley to determine where gaps in information existed and how information technologies might address those gaps. The researchers also were given access to information about crashes and medical response for the year 2006.
Horan and Schooley envision an integrated statewide crash trauma information network that will serve as a prototype "Crash Help" system. Horan stressed the need to track a patient in real time from end-to-end—from the time of a 9-1-1 notification through a patient's treatment and discharge from the hospital (and rehabilitation)—to ensure the best possible care.
Prior to Horan's presentation, Knapp provided an update about other CERS activities as well as some basic rural crash facts and ways to prevent rural crashes through engineering and enforcement measures. He emphasized the importance of collaboration and empowering local organizations to make the changes necessary to improve rural traffic safety.
With a goal of helping reduce crashes in Minnesota, Preston and Garwood discussed strategic highway safety planning at the county level using the Minnesota strategic highway safety plan (SHSP) as a starting point. To illustrate, they presented details from plans developed in Anoka and Freeborn Counties. Both Preston and Garwood described how low-cost, data-driven strategies have contributed to improvements.
To close the session, Weinholzer reviewed the increasing problem of deervehicle collisions (DVCs). Besides citing the latest state and national statistics, he summarized reasons for the increase in DVCs and preventive measures in use. In particular, Weinholzer focused on a promising new deer detection and avoidance system in development. Tests of the equipment along Camden State Park on Minnesota Trunk Highway 23 showed a 57 percent reduction in deer carcass counts during the past year.