[Fatal traffic accidents in Denmark. Prehospital changes in consciousness and loss of life-years due to traffic accidents]. / Trafikdrab i Danmark. AEndringer i den cerebrale tilstand i den proehospitale fase for trafikdraebte samt tabte leveår ved trafikulykker.

The aim of the study was to investigate the level of consciousness during the prehospital period of 299 persons killed in traffic accidents, and to determine the amount of lost years of life, during the period from January 1st 1986 to December 31st 1991. The study was a retrospective investigation based on police reports, medical records, death certificates and autopsy reports. The investigation was done in an area of Denmark without medically staffed prehospital care. The study demonstrates that the patients' cerebral condition worsened dramatically during the prehospital period. For these 299 killed persons a total of 10,368 years of life were lost, an average of 34.7 years per victim. One hundred and eighty-five persons between 18 and 65 years of age had a loss of 5,390 years of productivity. Medically staffed prehospital care at a high level ought to be built up in the whole country.

[Fatal traffic accidents in Denmark. Survival time and factors of importance for the prehospital phase]. / Trafikdrab i Danmark. Overlevelsestiden samt faktorer af betydning for den praehospitale tidsfase og det terapifrie intervals laengde for trafikdraebte.

The aim of the study was to determine the length of time of survival, and which factors affected the length of the prehospital phase/treatment-free period for persons who died as a result of a traffic accident in the County of Southern Jutland during the period from 1 January 1986 to 31 December 1991. The study was conducted as a retrospective investigation based on police reports and medical records. Two hundred and ninety-nine traffic victims were included. One hundred and nineteen were still alive when the ambulance reached the scene of the accident. Thirty-five of these died within one hour of the accident occurring, and 24 of the 35 died before reaching the hospital. The number of patients who died days to weeks after the trauma was lower than expected. In 80.2% of the traffic accidents (comprising 229 people killed and 193 wounded) there were other factors than distance from accident site to hospital that had a negative effect on the length of the prehospital phase and treatment-free period. It is concluded that the time that elapses between the accident occurring and the patient arriving at hospital must be better utilized, and that when evaluating the length of the prehospital phase/treatment-free period there are other factors than distance to hospital that must be taken into account.