Physician-Staffed Emergency Vehicle Crash: A Case Report

Physician-staffed vehicles are widely operated in many countries. There is a paucity of literature regarding physician-staffed emergency vehicle accidents. On an evening in January 2016, at the request of the fire department, a physician-staffed vehicle was dispatched with two physicians, a nurse, and a driver from the base hospital to the scene of a patient with cardiopulmonary arrest. The vehicle ran with the alerting siren and warning lights. On its way, the vehicle struck a car and the mission was canceled. The patient was transported to another hospital by the ambulance staff only. No passengers were injured. One physician and a nurse examined the driver of the struck car and transported the driver to the base hospital by additional ambulance units. Because there were no manuals or guidelines, the staff responses were not systematic. After the repair of the crashed vehicle and preparation of operation manuals for two months, the physician-staffed vehicle returned to service, and it has worked without any accident since then. The physician-staffed vehicle is of benefit to critical victims and it rarely crashes. When the vehicle is involved in an accident, it results in multiple victims as well as additional emergency demands. Warning lights and sirens in the dark at a four-point crossroads might increase the risk of crashing. Information influx from the emergency scenes might distract the physicians' attention and put stress on the driver, leading to dangerous high-speed emergency driving. Educational training and manuals in each hospital and a nationwide framework regarding safety operations and accidents are needed.