NEW YORK, March 23 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2005, Americans were involved in more than six million police-reported traffic crashes, in which more than 40,000 people were killed and more than two million people were injured. General Motors announced a partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and CDC Foundation to develop guidelines that will help emergency medical professionals more efficiently respond to an injured motorist after a vehicle crash.
(See video from General Motors at: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid686947667)
The CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Injury Response, will gather a panel of more than 20 emergency medical physicians, trauma surgeons, public safety, and vehicle safety experts. The panel will review real-time crash data from OnStar's Advanced Automatic Crash Notification (AACN) and similar systems to help to improve emergency transportation and treatment of crash victims. The study will be funded by a $250,000 grant from OnStar and the GM Foundation.
Traffic safety and emergency medical experts say AACN may be especially important in areas where there may not be a passerby to report a crash and few local hospitals equipped to treat the kinds of injuries sustained in severe crashes.
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