There is an old story about the emergency-response team that was so busy picking up injured people at the bottom of a cliff that they did not have time to see how they were falling. Dave Short took the time to find out how people could be prevented from driving Over-the-Bank on a hundred-mile stretch of road in California. An average of two people per year are saved by the guardrails that were installed more than a decade ago as a result of his efforts.

In this powerfully written document, he outlines the principles that any EMS can use to reduce incidence and severity of injuries. While it takes time and effort, the payoff in the long run is time and resources saved by reducing numbers of EMS runs and medical care costs due to reduced severity of injury to those involved. It could also lengthen the professional life of emergency technicians who get closer to burnout every time a child is maimed or a patient is lost.

Injuries are not random events. They are concentrated in space, time and among certain populations. As Dave points out, something as simple as a pin map often reveals clusters that can be reduced by available, low-tech approaches. To achieve the reductions, someone must reveal the patterns and make them known to people in a position to change the situation. Emergency personnel are in a primary position to track the patterns.

Dave Short has been there and here tells you how to get the job done.

Leon S. Robertson, Ph.D.
Yale University (retired)