Database Integration Correlates Street Crossing Design Strategies With Pedestrian Injury

INTRODUCTION

Transportation databases have limited data regarding injury severity of pedestrian versus automobile patients. To identify opportunities to reduce injury severity, transportation and trauma databases were integrated to examine the differences in pedestrian injury severity at street crossings that were signalized crossings (SCs) versus nonsignalized crossings (NSCs). It was hypothesized that trauma database integration would enhance safety analysis and pedestrians struck at NSC would have greater injury severity.

METHODS

Single-center retrospective review of all pedestrian versus automobile patients treated at a level 1 trauma center from 2014 to 2018 was performed. Patients were matched to the transportation database by name, gender, and crash date. Google Earth Pro satellite imagery was used to identify SC versus NSC. Injury severity of pedestrians struck at SC was compared to NSC.

RESULTS

A total of 512 patients were matched (median age = 41 y [Q1 = 26, Q3 = 55], 74% male). Pedestrians struck at SC (n = 206) had a lower injury severity score (ISS) (median = 9 [4, 14] versus 17 [9, 26], P < 0.001), hospital length of stay (median = 3 [0, 7] versus 6 [1, 15] days, P < 0.001), and mortality (21 [10%] versus 52 [17%], P = 0.04), as compared to those struck at NSC (n = 306). The transportation database had a sensitivity of 63.4% (55.8%-70.4%) and specificity of 63.4% (57.7%-68.9%) for classifying severe injuries (ISS >15).

CONCLUSIONS

Pedestrians struck at SC were correlated with a lower ISS and mortality compared to those at NSC. Linkage with the trauma database could increase the transportation database's accuracy of injury severity assessment for nonfatal injuries. Database integration can be used for evidence-based action plans to reduce pedestrian morbidity, such as increasing the number of SC.

Evaluation of the Fall Protection of Type I Industrial Helmets

The performance of Type I industrial helmets for fall protection is not required to be tested in standardized tests. The current study analyzed the fall protection performance of Type I industrial helmets and evaluated if the use of a chin strap and the suspension system tightness have any effect on protection performance. Head impact tests were performed using an instrumented manikin. There were 12 combinations of test conditions: with or without chin strap usage, three levels of suspension system tightness, and two impact surfaces. Four representative helmet models (two basic and two advanced models) were selected for the study. Impact tests without a helmet under all other applicable test conditions were used as a control group. There were four replicates for each test condition-a total of 192 impact tests with helmets and eight impact tests for the control group. The peak acceleration and the calculated head impact criteria (HIC) were used to evaluate shock absorption performance of the helmets. The results showed that all four helmet models demonstrated excellent performance for fall protection compared to the barehead control group. The fall protection performance of the advanced helmet models was substantially better than the basic helmet models. However, the effects of the use of chin straps and suspension system tightness on the helmets' fall protection performance were statistically not significant.

Survival among patients with severe high cervical spine injuries - a TraumaRegister DGU® database study

BACKGROUND

Trauma is a significant cause of death and impairment. The Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) differentiates the severity of trauma and is the basis for different trauma scores and prediction models. While the majority of patients do not survive injuries which are coded with an AIS 6, there are several patients with a severe high cervical spinal cord injury that could be discharged from hospital despite the prognosis of trauma scores. We estimate that the trauma scores and prediction models miscalculate these injuries. For this reason, we evaluated these findings in a larger control group.

METHODS

In a retrospective, multi-centre study, we used the data recorded in the TraumaRegister DGU® (TR-DGU) to select patients with a severe cervical spinal cord injury and an AIS of 3 to 6 between 2002 to 2015. We compared the estimated mortality rate according to the Revised Injury Severity Classification II (RISC II) score against the actual mortality rate for this group.

RESULTS

Six hundred and twelve patients (0.6%) sustained a severe cervical spinal cord injury with an AIS of 6. The mean age was 57.8 ± 21.8 years and 441 (72.3%) were male. 580 (98.6%) suffered a blunt trauma, 301 patients were injured in a car accident and 29 through attempted suicide. Out of the 612 patients, 391 (63.9%) died from their injury and 170 during the first 24 h. The group had a predicted mortality rate of 81.4%, but we observed an actual mortality rate of 63.9%.

CONCLUSIONS

An AIS of 6 with a complete cord syndrome above C3 as documented in the TR-DGU is survivable if patients get to the hospital alive, at which point they show a survival rate of more than 35%. Compared to the mortality prognosis based on the RISC II score, they survived much more often than expected.