Spurt in Road Accidents Makes Advanced Critical Care Crucial to Save Victims in ‘Golden Hour’

GENEVA / WASHINGTON, July 25, 2025 — Globally, road traffic accidents (RTAs) cause over 1.19 million deaths each year, with an additional 50 million people suffering disabilities, says the World Health Organization (WHO).

As per WHO, road traffic crashes cost most countries three percent of their gross domestic product. Inadequate post-crash care is a key aspect highlighted by the WHO while advocating for better hospital care.

Inordinate delays in identifying and offering care for those involved in a road traffic crash increase the severity of injuries. Care of injuries after a crash has occurred is extremely time-sensitive, as delays of minutes can make the difference between life and death, says WHO.

The global health advocacy group has stressed the need to improve post-crash care, which, as per WHO, requires ensuring access to timely prehospital care and improving the quality of both prehospital and hospital care, such as through specialist training programs.

However, in 2012, the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) and the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) issued a joint position paper proposing an expedited one-year critical care fellowship for hospitalists with at least three years of clinical job experience, instead of the two-year fellowship. However, there was a quick backlash from the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) and the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), who criticized the “inadequacy” of one year of fellowship training for HM physicians.

Notably, the United Nations General Assembly has set an ambitious target of halving the global number of deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes by 2030.

Improved Emergency Response

The common aspect in every accident is that every second counts. The World Economic Forum (WEF) has highlighted that satellite technology enables emergency responders to pinpoint accident locations with extreme accuracy, even in remote areas. With integrated vehicle telematics, automatic distress signals can be sent to emergency services, ensuring quicker response times and potentially saving lives, says WEF.

A recent study from Virginia-based vehicle history report provider CARFAX reveals that the end-of-work-week rush is considered to be a major contributing factor for a spurt in road accidents on Fridays across 42 states, including Michigan.

As per the study, Sundays were the quietest on U.S. roads, with the fewest incidents reported in almost all states. However, in Michigan, state statistics reveal that most fatal crashes happen on Sundays and in August.

While there has been a spurt in road accidents, in 2023, North America led the ambulance service market, achieving over 45.2 percent share with revenue of $21.2 billion.

The global ambulance services market size is expected to be worth around $119.2 billion by 2034, up from $46.8 billion in 2024, growing at a CAGR of 9.8 percent during the forecast period 2025 to 2034.

Critical Care Device Market

The global critical care devices market size was valued at around $60.1 billion in 2024 and is estimated to grow at a 5.5 percent CAGR from 2025 to 2034. Critical care devices are specialized medical equipment and use medical technology for assisting and supervising patients in distress situations, most often in the setting of intensive care units (ICUs).

The U.S. critical care devices market is projected to grow significantly, reaching $34.4 billion by 2034.

A recent shot in the arm for critical care services in the U.S. came when Siemens Healthineers deployed its first mobile stroke unit in the country, with an ambulance equipped with its own CT scanner.

Operating under the aegis of UCLA Health of Southern California, the specialized bus can respond to 911 calls alongside or instead of a standard ambulance and conduct an urgent head scan on location to identify a blocked blood vessel or a dangerous brain bleed.

“The phrase ‘time is brain’ is used frequently when discussing stroke,” Matthew Dedman, head of CT at Siemens Healthineers North America, said in a statement. “This innovative CT solution will help stroke care teams improve access to care and reduce the critical time from symptom onset to diagnosis and treatment.”

The company said its Somatom On.site head-focused scanner can deliver image quality comparable to its larger, stationary CT hardware, along with a self-shielded, telescopic gantry and artificial intelligence programs to help speed up the process.

Faster emergency response and better post-crash care are critical to reducing deaths and disabilities from road traffic accidents.

Inputs from Saqib Malik

Editing by David Ryder