Idaho geography presents challenges for crash responses

Brent Jennings, PE
Highway Safety Manager

In the United States rural roads account for less than half of the vehicle miles traveled, but over 56 percent of fatalities happen on rural roads. The average fatality rate for rural roads is more than twice the rate for urban roads – 2.4 per 100 million VMT for rural roads compared to 1.0 per 100 million VMT average fatality rate for urban roads. This trend is also the case in Idaho.

There are many factors contributing to these high figures, one of which is the inability of emergency medical service (EMS) personnel to locate and reach the victim during the so-called “Golden Hour” after the crash when emergency medical treatment is most effective.

The remote nature of rural roads, both on and off the State highway system, contributes largely to this issue. Just like Enforcement, Education and Engineering, Emergency Medical Services is one of the “4E’s” that contributes to the elimination of death and serious injury on Idaho roadways.

There are research initiatives and other agency practices that aim to reduce rural response times so that victims can be treated within the “Golden Hour.” Many of the successful practices can serve as models for other rural EMS to follow. Idaho has been asked to participate in this research.

The objective of this study is to obtain information on successful rural emergency responses that are able to provide emergency services within one hour on rural roads. The study will gather the following information:

  • As health care facilities are not within reach from many rural areas, how can we retrieve and treat rural crash victims within the “Golden Hour”?
  • Since it is difficult to recruit Emergency Responders due to the time required for training, and rural First Responders are scattered from training facilities, how can we recruit and properly train rural First Responders?
  • What are successful rural emergency response practices?
  • How can Idaho and the rest of the nation leverage or capitalize on existing vehicle communication systems such as “On-Star”

The Office of Highway Safety is pleased to participate in this research and to learn from others in order to define and implement improved ways to provide timely and proper medical response in the critical hour that follows a serious crash. Our partners in emergency medical services contribute significantly in our journey of Towards Zero Deaths in Idaho.

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Published 10-21-2011