Accident; analysis and prevention
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This study addresses of the impacts of emergency vehicle (ambulances, police cars and fire trucks) occupant seating position, restraint use and vehicle response status on injuries and fatalities. Multi-way frequency and ordinal logistic regression analyses were performed on two large national databases, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and the General Estimates System (GES). One model estimated the relative risk ratios for different levels of injury severity to occupants traveling in ambulances. ⋯ A third model incorporated non-special use van and passenger car occupants, which otherwise replicated the second model. Our findings suggest that ambulance crewmembers riding in the back and firefighters in any seating position, should be restrained whenever feasible. Family members accompanying ambulance patients should ride in the front-seat of the ambulance.
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The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of population density on mortality after traffic crashes. Subjects were the drivers of vehicles requiring towing after collisions, sampled by NASS-GES during 1994-1998. Cases were classified by population of crash location (greater or lesser than 25,000) and by population density of the driver's county of residence (using ZIP code and Census data). ⋯ R. 2.10, 95% C. I. 1.62-2.73). The excess risk for residents of rural areas to die in traffic crashes can be attributed in part to post-crash factors.