When someone is seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident, every moment counts. The job of a paramedic is complicated further if there are several crash victims. Who do you treat first? Who is in need of the most help?
To help first responders treat crash victims more effectively, General Motors has developed an Injury Severity Prediction (ISP) service for OnStar, part of the Automatic Crash Response service. According to an article which cites GM’s announcement, “ISP is an algorithm that OnStar uses in certain Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles in the U.S. and Canada. It analyzes crash information like the force of impact and direction of impact to determine the probability of severe injury to the vehicle occupants. OnStar Advisors then relay the ISP rating to 9-1-1 call centres, which may choose to adjust the level and priority of response dispatched to a crash scene. This helps first responders save more lives and more rapidly deal with injuries.”
Cory Richter, battalion chief of Indian River County (Fla.) Fire Rescue stated that “It has been proven that crash victims with a severe injury have a better chance of survival when they’re transported to a trauma centre instead of a local hospital. Resources like OnStar’s Injury Severity Prediction give us a better chance of identifying those victims early on.”
“This service enables first responders to better treat injuries today, and in the long run, it will allow us to prevent certain injuries from occurring,” said Jeff Boyer, GM vice president of global vehicle safety. “With access to this information, our engineers can analyze today’s safety systems to identify those features most effective in preventing severe injuries in the future.”
General Motors’ next step is to have OnStar work to educate the emergency response personnel for training purposes. Further tests and validation will be conducted this summer.
This development is a welcome initiative to better tend to the injuries of crash victims and potentially save more lives. Interestingly, however, other third parties might be interested in the information generated by ISP – such as insurance companies. Insurance companies may want access to the information to dispute claims for accident benefits. The information may even be used as an argument to raise premiums. Conversely, personal injury lawyers can use the information, if accessible, to support claims for compensation in the event of a dispute.
It remains to be seen what this new technology means – not only for first responders and crash victims, but for personal injury lawyers and insurance companies.
Source: https://www.auto123.com/en/news/onstar-adds-injury-severity-prediction-service/60919/
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