You are in Living Better . Now a new study suggests that organized, regional systems of trauma care, first established in 1976, also contribute to the reduced death rate. The fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 1999 was down significantly from 1966's fatality rate. Several preventive activities contribute to this positive effect, but a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that help on the back end can save lives too. It's much easier to put on a seatbelt than to treat the injuries afterward.
Trauma systems have to change behavior, and then the behavior changes the outcome.
He explains that good radio systems put emergency personnel in touch with nearby hospitals, and better training enables paramedics to get people to the hospital faster. His medical center, the largest trauma center in the U.S., treats approximately 7,000 trauma patients each year. Belzberg, who was not involved in this study, estimates that close to two-thirds of those patients have injuries related to traffic accidents. Nathens, a fellow in trauma and critical care at Harborview Medical Center and Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center in Seattle, and his co-authors studied crash fatality data collected between 1979 and 1995. They looked at accidents occurring in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, involving front-seat passengers between the ages of 15 and 74.