An Ambulance Accident with Serious outcomes Investigation, Surin, November 2021

Abstract

Background: An ambulance accident with proved fatal victim was notified to The Office of Disease Prevention and Control 9^th Nakhon Ratchasima (ODPC9) on 19^th November 2020 from Surin Provincial Public Health officers. This situation happened in Surin province. Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and Road Traffic Injury Team (RTI) of ODPC9 conducted the investigation on 24^th November 2020 to evaluate etiology and epidemiology, and provided suitable recommendations for future accident prevention and control to locals. Method: Epidemiologic descriptive study; the information about ambulance accident scenario, drivers’ and passengers’ behaviors were accumulated as medical records of the fatal victim to identify causes of death. Medical staff, drivers, police and witnesses were interviewed. The environment at scene and post-cash vehicles were studied. Haddon Matrix and Swiss Cheese Model were used as analytic methods to evaluate the factors of this accident. Result: Five people directly involved in the accident; 3 passengers and a driver in the ambulance, and a male driver on motorcycle who got injured and died eventually. The fatal one was mentioned to have various risk behaviors that influenced in this accident; he had an alcoholism and abnormal eyes vision, and was often neglected wearing safety equipment. Therefore, he experienced nearly car crashed several times. The environment at scene was unsafe as there was a destructive street isle to cross the road or make a U-turn, made by local people illegally, which became the spot of car accidents many times. Conclusion: There were two main causes from data analysis of this ambulance accident. Firstly, the deceased himself, both his inappropriately physical condition and behaviors could lead to this tragedy. Secondly, an unsafe environment; the illegal U-turn was built. Therefore, the number of accidents here were reported as drivers who used the main route were not aware of any unexpected vehicles crossing through street isle. To tackle this, JIT and RTI teams performed short-term management immediately by bringing plastic barriers to cover this illegal route and cooperating with Department of  Highways for permanent solutions.