JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Ambulance accidents are an unfortunate indirect result of ambulance emergency calls, and create hazardous environments for personnel, patients and bystanders. We have extracted, analysed and compared data from reports in online newspapers on ambulance accidents in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

Objective:

The objective was to extract, analyse and compare data from online newspaper articles on ambulance accidents for these countries. We hope to highlight the deficit in research data and official registers important for the prevention of future accidents with ambulance and emergency vehicles. Extractable and comparable data would go a long way towards identifying the cause of ambulance accidents. In turn this may allow additional protocols to be implemented for the prevention of future ambulance and emergency vehicle accidents.

Methods:

Ambulance accident data were collected from Austrian, German and Swiss free web-based daily newspapers – as listed in Wikipedia – for the period between January 2014 and January 2019. All included newspapers were searched for articles reporting ambulance accidents, using the German translations of the following search terms: “ambulance, ambulance vehicle, ambulance car, accident ambulance, accident ambulance car”. Characteristics of the accidents were compiled and analysed. Only ground ambulance accidents were covered in this study.

Results:

In Germany, a total of 597 ambulance accidents was recorded, corresponding to 0.719 (95% CI: 0.663-0.779)/100,000 inhabitants. 453 of these accidents left 1170 persons injured, corresponding to 1.409 (95% CI: 1.330-1.492)/100,000 inhabitants. 28 of these accidents caused 31 fatalities, corresponding to 0.037 (95% CI: 0.025-0.053)/100,000 inhabitants. In Austria, a total of 62 ambulance accidents was recorded, corresponding to 0.698 (95% CI: = 0.535-0.894)/100,000 inhabitants. 47 of these accidents left 115 persons injured, corresponding to 1.294 (95% CI: 1.068-1.553)/100,000 inhabitants. Six of these accidents caused seven fatalities, corresponding to 0.079 (95% CI: 0.032-0.162)/100,000 inhabitants. In Switzerland, a total of 25 ambulance accidents was recorded, corresponding to 0.293 (95% CI: 0.189-0.432)/100,000 inhabitants. 11 of these accidents left 18 persons injured, corresponding to 0.203 (95% CI: 0.12-0.32)/100000 inhabitants. There were no fatalities. In each of the three countries, the majority of the accidents involved another car (77% to 81%). In Germany and Switzerland, most accidents occurred at an intersection. In Germany, 38.77% of ambulance accidents occurred at intersections showing red for the ambulance, in Austria 26.67%, and in Switzerland 4.00% (p<0.001). In all three countries, most of the casualties were staff and not uncommonly a third party. Most accidents took place on weekdays and during the daytime. Ambulance accidents were evenly distributed across the four seasons. The direction of travel was reported in 28% to 37% of the accidents and the patient was in the ambulance approximately 50% of the time in all countries. The cause of the ambulance accidents were reported to be the ambulance itself in 125 accidents in Germany (48.08% of accidents where the cause was reported), 22 accidents (42.31%) in Austria and 8 accidents (40.00%) in Switzerland (p=0.018); and another vehicle in 118 accidents (45.38%) in Germany, 29 (55.77%) in Austria and 9 (45.00%) in Switzerland (p<0.001). An overall total of 292 accidents while blue lights and sirens were being used, and caused three deaths and 577 injuries.

Conclusions:

An ambulance accident delays the definitive treatment of the patient, can exacerbate or cause further injury and may prove to be an expensive outcome. Whilst responding to an emergency call, ambulance drivers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland are accountable for damages, injury, death and nonadherence to traffic regulations. This may not always be equitable. In European German speaking countries, contributing factors have not been optimally researched and analysed. This study draws attention to much needed auxiliary sources of data that may allow creation of a contemporary registry of all ambulance accidents in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. In order to improve risk management and set European standards, it should be mandatory to collect standardised goal-directed and representative information, using various sources (including the wide range presented by the press and social media), which should then be made available for audit, analysis and research.