Crash response planning is a vital component of emergency management and highway emergency response planning. Evaluation of coverage of medical facilities is required to determine adequate access from crash sites to medical facilities. This study proposes a proof of concept for a planning tool that evaluates fatal and serious injury crash response coverage from crash sites to medical facilities in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Calculated travel times from fatal crash sites to medical facilities are compared with reported travel times to better estimate travel time modification factors. The modified travel times are used to determine coverage areas and evaluate serious injury crash response coverage of medical facilities in Virginia.
A geo grid approach is used to demonstrate the proof of concept for a crash response planning tool. A risk grid is developed based on the aggregate number of fatal and serious injury crashes. This study includes serious injury crash response coverage because the number of serious injuries and serious injury rate are now included as reportable safety performance measures for state highway safety agencies. A mitigation grid is developed based on the travel time to the closest facility. Finally, a planning grid that combines risk and mitigation factors based on a decision matrix is presented. The resulting tool serves as a proof of concept for developing a crash response planning tool which enables planners to identify areas that do not have timely access from crash sites to medical facilities. / Master of Science / An objective of emergency responders is to safely transport crash victims from crash sites to medical facilities. Ensuring adequate access is an important goal of highway safety professionals. This study proposes a proof of concept for a planning tool that evaluates this access in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This study focuses on serious injury crash sites because the number of serious injuries and serious injury rate are now included as reportable safety performance measures for state highway safety agencies. Travel times from serious injury crash sites to medical facilities are used to identify areas that do not have timely access. Risk and mitigation assessments are performed by dividing the study area into equal sized cells. Risk and mitigation assessments are based on number of crashes and response travel times to the closest medical facility, respectively. These assessments are used to generate a proof of concept for a crash response planning tool which enables planners to identify areas that do not have timely access from crash sites to medical facilities.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/88881 |
| Date | 09 April 2019 |
| Creators | Hajameeran, Alima Jafreen |
| Contributors | Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hancock, Kathleen L., Katz, Bryan J., Rakha, Hesham A. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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