A survey of rural road fatalities

This study is a retrospective case series analysis of all 82 road deaths occurring in the Orana Area Health Service (OAHS) over the 2 year period 1989-90. The OAHS services a population of 112,800 in an area of 199,077 km2 in north-west New South Wales. The aim of the study was to document timing, place and cause of deaths, severity of injuries, pre-hospital management of victims, and a TRISS analysis of outcome. This was done using ambulance, hospital, police and autopsy reports. Seventy-two (88%) of the victims were motor vehicle occupants, five (6%) were motorcyclists and four (5%) were pedestrians. The median ambulance response time to the scene of the accident was 17 min (range 2-103 min). All deaths occurred within 24 h of injury with 65 (79%) of the victims being dead at the scene, nine (11%) dying en-route and eight (10%) reaching hospital alive. A TRISS analysis was performed on 51 deaths and 8% (4/51) of these had a greater than 50% probability of survival. Of the victims that had inevitable deaths according to TRISS, 11% (5/47) may have survived if pre-hospital care arrived sooner. Reduction in the rural road toll is achievable through preventative measures and strategies to improve access to care and administration of pre-hospital care.