-Case Reports-

A System That Uses Advanced Automatic Collision Notification Technology to Dispatch Doctors to Traffic Accidents by Helicopter: The First 4 Cases

Tomokazu Motomura^1,2, Hisashi Matsumoto¹, Kunihiro Mashiko^2,3, Hirotoshi Ishikawa², Tetsuya Nishimoto^2,4 and Yoshihiro Takeyama⁵

¹Shock and Trauma Center, Hokusoh HEMS, Nippon Medical School Chiba Hokusoh Hospital, Chiba, Japan
²HEM-Net, the D-Call Net Research Society, Tokyo, Japan
³Minamitama Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
⁴Biomechanics Research Unit, Nihon University, Fukushima, Japan
⁵Hakodate Municipal Hospital, Hokkaido, Japan

Introduction: To increase survival rates of patients with severe trauma from road traffic accidents, Japan launched the D-Call Net (DCN) system, which utilizes advanced automatic collision notification technology to dispatch doctors by helicopter. The DCN system began in November 2015 and, as of October 2019, has dispatched doctors 4 times.
Cases: Case 1-Canceled because trauma was mild. Case 2-Doctor made contact with 2 patients with moderate trauma 29 minutes earlier than would have occurred conventionally. This was the first case in the world to use automotive engineering data to dispatch a doctor to a patient. Case 3-An accident involving 3 severely injured patients activated DCN, enabling doctor-patient contact 20 minutes earlier than would have been possible conventionally. Case 4-DCN was ineffective.
Discussion: According to 2008 data from Chiba Prefecture, in accidents where victims sustain severe trauma, the interval from accident occurrence to hospital arrival was 67 minutes, even when doctors were dispatched by air ambulance (Doctor-Heli [DH]). Use of accident information for faster doctor dispatch effectively improved survival rates. An algorithm was developed to use accident information to assess trauma severity (severity probability). DCN dispatches doctors by using data, including information on accident site and severity probability, which are sent to smartphones of doctors, thereby reducing the interval from accident to DH request by approximately 17 minutes. DCN is the first system in the world to use automotive engineering information for faster doctor dispatch to traffic accident sites. The system is crucial for improving survival rates and mitigating the aftereffects of traffic accidents.

J Nippon Med Sch 2020; 87: 220-226

Keywords
trauma system, helicopter emergency medical services, automatic collision notification, intelligent transportation

Correspondence to
Tomokazu Motomura, Shock and Trauma Center, Hokusoh HEMS, Nippon Medical School, Chiba Hokusoh Hospital, 1715 Kamagari, Inzai, Chiba 270-1694, Japan
xcjwg823@yahoo.co.jp

Received, January 7, 2020
Accepted, February 26, 2020