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Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of severe injuries. Outcome of these victims is substantially influenced by rescue time and primary trauma centre care. Nowadays, automatic crash notification systems (ACN) are available offering the major possibility of immediate initiation of the rescue chain and thereby shortening rescue time up to 50%. According to the EU commission a nationwide equipping of motor vehicles with automatic crash notification systems could save up to 2,500 lives per year. Therefore, all new vehicles should be equipped with an automatic crash notification system by 2014. BMW is the first manufacturer to install an enhanced automatic crash notification system (eACN), which could optimize the rescue triage by estimating the risk for severe injuries (MAIS3+) based on telemetric transmitted accident data.

Aim of the Study: With respect to the restricted diagnostic possibilities at an accident scene and the limited time for decisions essential for survival, this project dealt with severe injuries with an abbreviated injury scale (AIS) 3-6 in traffic accidents. The objective was the development of a diagnostic aid that can be used directly at the accident site., Methods: The analysis was based on data from the GIDAS (German in depth accident study) files from the years 1999-2006. To investigate the accident parameters and to draw up the injury risk functions a multivariate regression analysis of 5,010 traffic accidents was performed., Results: For the 20 most prevalent severe injuries of passenger car drivers and front seat passengers the cumulative influence of clearly evident factors was depicted and the combined likelihood was calculated. For the utilization at the accident scene software has been developed to display these likelihoods in a simple and comprehensible manner., Conclusions: At the accident scene crucial diagnostic indications can be acquired with simple observation and a software-assisted analysis.

The new AIS (Abbreviated Injury Scale) was released with an update by the AAAM (Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine) in 2008. It is a universal scoring system in the field of trauma applicable in clinic and research. In engineering it is used as a classification system for vehicle safety. The AIS can therefore be considered as an international, interdisciplinary and universal code of injury severity. This review focuses on a historical overview, potential applications and new coding options in the current version and also outlines the associated problems.

Background: The mechanism of injury is the major cause for trauma team activation and emergency room resuscitation of trauma victims. To date, it remains unclear to what extent the injury mechanism influences injury pattern and severity., Methods: A comprehensive systematic literature search based on Medline was carried out., Results: Only a limited number of studies are available which investigated the influence of injury mechanisms on injury patterns and severity. There are no specific mechanisms for traumatic brain and spine injuries. Injuries to the chest and abdomen most frequently resulted from motor vehicle accidents involving passengers sitting on the side of the impact. Steering wheel deformity correlated with the injury severity. Pelvic fractures occurred most frequently due to motor vehicle accidents. The highest mortality resulted from pedestrians being struck by a vehicle and additional loss of life in the same vehicle compartment., Conclusions: The systematic literature research showed inconsistent results regarding the influence of trauma mechanisms on the resulting injury. Therefore, a treatment algorithm for trauma patients should be independent of the mechanism which is represented in several training programs (e.g. ATLS and PHTLS). However, the mechanism of injury may increase the alertness of the trauma team with respect to injury distribution and severity.