Ambulanser kör ofta i hög hastighet och gör så vid dygnets alla tidpunkter och vid alla årstider. Vid en eventuell kollision innebär en undermålig säkerhetsbältesanvändning en betydande risk för skador, både för patienten, vårdaren och eventuella medåkare. Det ställs höga krav på hur ambulanser ska vara utrustade vad gäller bland annat inredning och medicinskteknisk utrustning. Detta för att garantera säkerheten för både patienter och personal. Att vistas i ambulansens vårdhytt har visat sig innebära en ökad risk för olyckor och dödsfall jämfört med andra arbetsplatser inom vården. Flertalet studier har gjorts avseende personalens bältesanvändning i vårdhytten men inte i samma utsträckning vad gäller bältesanvändning på ambulansbåren. Studiens syfte var att belysa användningen av ambulansbårens säkerhetsbälten vid transport av vuxna patienter i ambulans. Syftet nåddes genom insamling av data avseende bältesanvändning och personalens inställning till centrala begrepp, vilket skedde med enkät som metod. Resultatet visade att patienter inte åker obältade och att midjebältet var det vanligast använda bältet. Underbensbältet var det minst använda bältet. En knapp tredjedel av vårdarna i studien använde samtliga befintliga bälten på båren och bara en tredjedel av dessa applicerade dessutom bältena på ett korrekt och ändamålsenligt sätt. Två olika bårar användes i studien. På bår B användes axelbälten i högre utsträckning än på bår A. Den vanligaste orsaken till att axelbälten inte användes var att vårdaren rutinmässigt inte brukade använda dessa. Detta gällde för urvalet i allmänhet och för bår A i synnerhet. Utbildningsmetod och användningsgrad av det egna säkerhetsbältet i vårdhytten påverkade inte vårdarens benägenhet att använda patientens säkerhetsbälten vid transport på bår. Av studiens resultat kunde slutsatsen dras att säkerhetsbältesanvändningen i ambulansen har stor förbättringspotential. Resultatet påvisade tydliga brister i användningen av bårens säkerhetsbälten vid patienttransport. Att säkerhetsbältesanvändningen för patienterna i ambulansen förs upp till diskussion, anser forskarna, är mycket viktigt för att främja såväl patientsäkerheten som trafiksäkerheten och ambulanspersonalens arbetsmiljö. / Ambulances frequently drive at high speed, at all hours and all through the year. In case of a collision there is a significant risk of injury to patients and staff alike if seat belts are not used properly. To guarantee the safety of patients and staff while travelling in the ambulance high standards are set for the fitting and medical technical equipment of the vehicle. Travelling in the back of an ambulance has shown an increased risk of injury and death compared to other workplaces in the nursing community. Several studies have been conducted regarding the use of seat belts use for the ambulance staff, but not when it comes to the use of seat belts on the ambulance stretcher. The aim of this study was to high-light the use of seat belts on the ambulance stretcher in transporting adult patients in the ambulance. This was accomplished by the collection of data regarding the use of seat belts and the staff’s view on some central concepts. This was achieved by using a questionnaire as method. The result showed that patients did not go completely without seat belts and that the waist belt was the most commonly used seat belt. The belt for the lower part of the leg was the least used. Barely a third of the staff in the study used all of the available seat belts on the stretcher, and only a third of those that did, used it in accordance with the instructions from the manufacturer. Two different types of stretchers were used in the study. On stretcher B the shoulder straps were used more frequently than on stretcher A. The most common reason for not using the shoulder straps was that the personnel routinely chose not to use them. This applied for the sample as a whole, and more significantly for the users of stretcher A. The method of learning and to what degree the staff used their own seat belts did not correlate to the tendency of using belts on patients. From the result of the study the conclusion can be drawn that the use of seat belts in the ambulance has great potential for improvement. The result pointed to evident deficiencies in the use of seat belts on the stretcher in patient transport. The researchers believe that bringing attention to the use of seat belts for patients in ambulance transportation is very important in promoting patient safety, traffic safety and working environment for the staff.

Safety belts are the most effective safety device in vehicles in terms of preventing injuries (1). Every year, safety belt usage data across the nation is collected by the individual states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories in a probability-based observational survey. Using this survey, Massachusetts, a secondary seat belt law state, ranked last in safety belt usage in 2008. This percentage was approximately a 2 percent decrease from 2007. This value was not an aberration as within the recent past, Massachusetts, a secondary safety belt law state, has consistently ranked at or near the bottom of the 50 states. The foremost issue with safety belt usage is the inherent disregard of the safety related benefits for both drivers and passengers, alike. While there is a significant amount of literature documenting the safety related benefits, there is still a need for continued study of the persistent attributes that are associated with those vehicle occupants who make the decision to not buckle up. The scope of this research encompasses the use of the collected data in the 2009 Massachusetts Safety Belt Usage Observation Study to determine what demographic variables; such as age, gender, race, occupant location, community median income, community population density, community education level, and combined demographics, are at high and low ends of the safety belt usage spectrum. Using this data, along with Massachusetts safety belt usage data from the immediate past observational studies, usage based on these and additional demographic information was quantified and analyzed. An outcome of this research was to identify specific strategies, such as increased education and concentrated enforcement, aimed at increasing safety belt usage amidst those targeted subsections of the population that are not buckling up.

Computer simulation is an essential tool in the development process of childseats, particularly when it comes to ensuring the safety of child passengers.As awareness regarding child passenger safety continues to grow, the use ofsuitable materials in the development of child seats becomes increasinglycrucial. Numerical simulations play a vital role throughout the entiredevelopment phase, enabling accurate analysis and evaluation. Toeffectively reduce development costs and time, it is imperative to have amaterial model that accurately predicts the behavior of materials innumerical simulations. This enables optimized performance of child seatswhile maintaining safety standards. The objective of the thesis is to implement a standard procedure forextracting material data for numerical modelling of foam materials andvalidating it. In this study, material models available in LS-DYNA, such asMAT_083 and MAT_057 for foam materials, are utilized along withcompression test data to create the material model. The model is furtherenhanced by optimizing the material parameters to establish a correlationbetween the test and simulation results. The improved material model is thenvalidated by comparing it with the impact drop test results. However,THULE's current impact drop test equipment is not considered accurate orefficient, and addressing this issue is one of the main objectives of thisthesis. Within this thesis, the identified problems are thoroughly examined,and suitable solutions are proposed to ensure the accurate extraction ofmaterial data and its validation, particularly when introducing new foammaterials.

Research was performed to analyze the performance of the crack, seat, and overlay (CS&O) roadway rehabilitation technique in the Central Coast and Northern regions of California. This technique was evaluated through literature review to determine the state of practice and their conclusions. California highway sections rehabilitated using CS&O were selected for evaluation based on age and location. Pavement distresses and traffic data for these sections were collected and analyzed. Prior to beginning analysis this data was checked for errors, outliers, and omissions. The analysis consisted of checking the data for correlations among distresses and regions. The focus of this research is to develop performance prediction models for pavement distresses in CS&O sections. Using data collected from Caltrans’ Pavement Condition Reporting Software, performance models were developed based on dependent (distress) variables: alligator cracking, transverse cracking, longitudinal cracking, and International Roughness Index (IRI). And independent (explanatory) variables: age, traffic in the form of equivalent single axle load (ESAL), thickness of hot mix asphalt (HMA), thickness of Portland Cement Concrete (PCC), and cumulative traffic in the form of cumulative ESAL. Prediction models were then analyzed for preciseness and sensitivity to the variables included in each model.

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M. S.