Technologies to Reduce Injury and Loss of Life from Car Crashes
10 June 1998
New Center Will Develop Systems, Technologies to Reduce Injury and Loss of Life from Car Crashes
BUFFALO, N.Y., June 10 -- The Calspan-University at Buffalo
Research Center (CUBRC) will receive $12 million over the next six years under
the federal Transportation Equity Act for the 21st century, signed yesterday
by President Clinton.
The funding will establish a new Center for Transportation Injury Research
to develop and evaluate systems and technologies to improve management of the
transportation and emergency-response systems to reduce injuries and loss of
life resulting from vehicle-related crashes.
"CUBRC's Center for Transportation Injury Research addresses a critical
national need -- reducing the level of injuries and fatalities on the nation's
highways," said Thomas McMahon, CUBRC executive director.
McMahon said the center will bring together experts in emergency medicine
and transportation-safety research to address crash and injury prevention, as
well as to look at how to mitigate the personal and economic costs of crashes
that do occur.
An important focus of the center will be the development of technology to
improve the delivery of emergency-medical services to victims of rural
crashes. Nearly 60 percent of all traffic fatalities occur in rural areas,
where delays in crash notification and the delivery of emergency and
definitive medical care are likely to occur.
CUBRC is a not-for-profit organization, formed by the University at
Buffalo and Calspan, an operation of Veridian, to bring together scientists
and engineers from academia and private industry to conduct joint research.
"The Center for Transportation Injury Research will maximize the existing
cooperative relationship between UB and Calspan by integrating their
strengths," said William R. Greiner, UB president and chair of the CUBRC Board
of Directors. "As a result, we expect there to be important improvements in
highway safety that will decrease the number of fatalities."
"This partnership exemplifies what is possible for our region when we work
together," Greiner added. "By leveraging UB's strength in the area of clinical
research with those of Calspan, a world leader in aeronautics, defense and
transportation research and development, we have brought a total of
$48 million in research funding into Western New York during the past 15
years."
Joseph Allen, Ph.D., Veridian board chair and a member of the CUBRC Board
of Directors, noted that Veridian's Calspan Operations has been a world leader
in transportation safety for more than 50 years.
"The establishment of this new center, the result of Representative Jack
Quinn's leadership in the House, is an extension of Veridian's corporate
values and culture as we work toward making our nation's highways safer for
everyone," he said.
Quinn, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee,
requested and helped secure the funding for the new program in the
transportation bill.
"The CUBRC center will have a significant impact on improving the safety
and efficiency of our highways," he said. "The joint research project will
help save lives in Western New York and around the country by using the most
up-to-date and innovative technology available."
The new funding complements research efforts currently under way by the UB
Department of Emergency Medicine and Calspan involving real-world testing of
advanced technologies to provide automated notification of crashes and improve
links to the 911 system.
"The center will apply systems-engineering methodologies to advance the
state of the art for crash-notification and response systems," said Edward
Starosielec, vice president of Calspan's Transportation Group.
"We need to consider all possible linkages, data requirements and
necessary infrastructure to improve how emergency-response systems work. We
want to identify technologies and systems that can work together across the
entire spectrum from crash avoidance to crash notification and emergency
response, and identify areas where we can develop or test specific technology
solutions."
According to Calspan and UB researchers, automated crash-notification and
response systems are a critical element of improving the highway and
transportation "safety net."
Through the use of Global Positioning Systems (GPS), cellular
communications networks and advanced vehicle electronics, the researchers hope
to exploit and improve on current capabilities, as well as identify and test
new systems that will provide emergency-service personnel with new tools for
delivering better and faster care to crash victims.
Dietrich Jehle, M.D., associate professor and vice chair of the UB
Department of Emergency Medicine and an investigator on the CUBRC project,
said the emergency-medicine aspects will include evaluating and testing new
tools to correlate crash severity and injury severity.
"This represents a critical knowledge gap for those of us involved in the
practice of emergency medicine, and represents an area for potentially
significant savings in lives and reductions in injury severity," said Jehle,
director of the Emergency Medicine Department at the Erie County Medical
Center.
He noted that the UB Department of Emergency Medicine and the emergency
department at ECMC, which has some of the best survival rates for trauma
centers in New York State, are particularly well-versed in gathering and
analyzing this type of information.
Anthony J. Billittier, M.D., assistant professor of emergency medicine at
UB, and Alan Blatt, principal engineer with Calspan, will provide technical
leadership on medical and engineering issues relative to the project.
Veridian provides technical solutions and systems engineering to defense,
federal, commercial and international customers in the areas of Aeronautics,
Transportation, Information, Life Sciences, and Space. Veridian employs more
than 2,400 scientists, engineers, computer scientists, test pilots and other
professionals, and operates in more than 30 locations in the U.S. and
overseas. With corporate offices in Alexandria, VA, Veridian's annual revenue
is more than $270 million. Calspan Operations is located in Buffalo, NY.