Analysis of the Road Traffic Accident Fatalities on the Australian Population - Essay Example

Analysis of the Road Traffic Accident Fatalities on the Australian Population Analysis of the Road Traffic Accident Fatalities on the Australian Population The road is a dangerous place to be in. Road traffic accidents damage properties and most often produce human casualties. It can be observed that road accidents most often occur in cities and urban areas which are linked with the growing traffic increasing population and economic human activities (Archer & Vogel, 2000). In fact, amongst the huge cities in the world, Australia’s urban areas have grown to have substantial number of fatalities in the road based on the Australian Transport Council (2011). But still it is worthwhile to consider the share of rural areas upon analysis of road accidents in Australia. Australian roads have recorded several traffic accidents that have inflicted damage not only in public properties but on the health and emotional well-being of its population. The magnitude of the issue placed a significant weight on the shoulders of relevant sectors of society to come up with strategy and interventions to minimize and prevent serious injury and unfortunate loss of lives. The Australian government has existing strategic frameworks on how to address public safety through policy intervention and law enforcement. However, paramount to this issue is the health and medical sector of the community. The role of nurses and paramedics is critical during road accidents. To devise a primary health care strategy in providing efficient and effective service during emergency situations is relevant to the road crisis that Australia is experiencing today. The Australian Population Australia is large in terms of land area, but its population is small relative to its size. Australia is also a highly urbanized nation with most of the population concentrated in two widely separated coastal regions: the east to south east regions (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2010). As of April 2012, the projected residential population of Australia is about 22,881,105 with an increase of one person every 1 minute and 34 seconds (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012). Australia’s populations by age group that is based on a 2011 estimate are the following: 18.3% (0-14 years), 67.7% (15-64 years) and 14.0% (65+ years) by “All Down Under” (2011). The most mobile among the group are the young people (aged 15-24 years) most of which come from rural areas. The cause of this movement is due to the greater availability of employment, education and training opportunities in urban areas. It is because of this movement that there is a change in the age profile in rural and urban areas in Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006). Motor vehicles are Australia’s primary means of transportation especially since vehicle ownership is important to people’s mobility. In March 2009, there were over 12 million registered passenger vehicles in Australia. This comprises three-fourths (77%) of Australia’s total vehicle fleet and the remaining are owners of campervans, trucks, buses, motorcycles and light commercial vehicles (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2010). According to the Australian Transport Council (2011), crashes that occur in the country are widely dispersed among the regional and remote areas. On their 2006 report, it showed that there is a higher incidence of fatal crashes in the outer regional and remote parts of the country than compared to the major cities. Scope of Road Accident Fatality The fatalities on the road are widely contributed by several types of road accidents. Most news reports confer that car crash accidents often occur during unintentional straying of one vehicle with the lane of another vehicle or collision with motorway barriers and poorly positioned physical structures on the road. The direct human impacts of road accidents have been proven to be devastating. Each year, the Australian Transport Council (2011) indicates an average of 1,400 Australians being killed in road crashes and 32,500 are being hospitalized. Most of major crashes in the road consist mostly of run-off-road accidents where a vehicle leaves the roadway due to factors like loss of control or evasion of another vehicle or animal. Furthermore, intersection crashes have a large share on road fatalities while head-on crashes have the least (Australian Transport Council, 2011). Most of the motorcyclists, pedestrians and older people ranging from 65 years old and up comprise the majority of population that experience unfortunate death due to road accidents. The young drivers (17-25 years) have a fair share of loss of lives followed by cases of hit and run to older people and children. One of the leading causes of death for children aged between one and fourteen years in Australia are road traffic injuries (Everison & Leeds, 2008). It is notable to consider that unlicensed motorists comprise around 6% of total deaths that happened. For those who managed to survive death, the total serious injuries are mostly common to motorcycle and bicycle users. Surprisingly, hit and run incidents for pedestrians and incidents involving older people and children have a lesser share on total serious injuries on road accidents (Australian Transport Council, 2011). Implications for the Australian Population The occurrence of road accidents imposes a big burden on the community. In a society that puts great importance on the value of life and human welfare, road accidents is considered as bringer of pain and fear. The loss of life and quality of life is definitely a challenge for Australian community. A vehicle can always be replaced – a life cannot. For a more concrete burden, net loss of output of goods and services are also inflicted due to death and injury as well as expenditures of resources necessary to alleviate the effects of accidents. These alleviation efforts usually come in the form of medical expenses, labor loss, administration costs, vehicle repairs and legal fees (Reynolds, 1956). In Australia, car crashes have significant impact on the community and economy. Majority of the affected areas in society are reflected in human costs brought about by the loss of quality of life, long term care, travel delays and lost labor in community and workplace. In addition, vehicle costs due to repair and time lost are also major effects of car accidents (Baldock & McLean, 2005). A research done by Harrison (1999) in the context of Australian population identified a number of disorders including acute stress disorder, driving phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder and mood disorders. As a result, the Australian Transport Council (2011) devised a strategy for national road safety. The strategy focuses on roads, speeds, vehicles and road user behaviour as well as a range of associated activities, including performance monitoring and reporting. Social Determinants of Health towards Road Accidents It is believed that people’s lifestyle and the conditions in which they live and work strongly influence their health (Wilkinson & Marmot, 2003). Looking at the issue of car road fatalities, explanations can be brought about by using social determinants of health. Behavioural factors like stress, substance abuse, lifestyle and structural issues like work experience, access to health system or other socio-economic status are common examples of social determinants that can influence the occurrence of accidents on the road (Cannon, 2008). Life expectancy is seen to be shorter down the social ladder. Individuals in Australia that are in the bottom of the social ladder are expected to have higher mortality rates for most causes of death, like car accidents (Turrell et al., 1999). Gender has been an important determinant in road accident fatalities for Australia. In 2005, a quarter of all fatalities and serious injuries on the road are all male road users. The high-risk behaviours such as drunk-driving and over-speeding are major factors in major crashes. In the Australian population, research has consistently found that young male drivers are more likely to engage in high-risk behaviours such as racing and speeding. This increases the chances of their involvement in a serious crash (Smart & Vassallo, 2005). The higher risk of crash-related hospitalization for young drivers from low socio-economic background is independent of both driving exposure and rural-urban differences (Chen et al., 2009). Work location and experience can be also a significant factor. For those travelling longer miles to work have higher chances of car accidents. The risk is increased in the presence of stress or fatigue during driving from work. The Department of Transport, Energy and Infrastructure (2005) of Australia also added that access to emergency services and medical treatment can sometimes be more difficult due to the remoteness of some roads in rural areas. Primary Health Care Service Improvements of primary health care system are continuously implemented in Australia to address the ever-changing needs of the population. Primary health care services are basically provided outside the hospitals through professionals like nurses, general practitioners as well as paramedics and other allied health providers (Department of Health – Government of Australia, 2009). Prevention of road accidents and minimizing the adverse health consequences must be given important weight in a primary health care system. The Australian government has sufficiently collected and identified risk factors that can primarily raise awareness among the primary health care team and to subsequently inform the general public. Aside from raising awareness, the road accident data can help create a work plan and decide on resources allocation to prioritize emergency cases with or without the expense of other areas (Kendrick, 1994). The cases of road accidents require health professionals to develop new and updated skills and improve ways to work together with other professionals in the field. While doing this, the quality and safety of services must be maintained throughout. It is important to identify key professionals who will administer primary health care services in the case of road accidents. The role of paramedics during accidents is very crucial to provide first-hand medical assistance to victims and alleviate any health conditions that may proceed to death or any serious injury. Paramedics must be well-versed and well-trained with patient care with composed and responsible attitude towards the victim. One does need to stay calm during crisis and be able to communicate effectively. Necessarily, the use of updated technology must come in handy for paramedics to treat and stabilize patients. The immediate professionals that work hand-in-hand with paramedics might include ambulance technicians as well as police force on the accident site. It is compulsory to complement each other for an effective and efficient health care to patients. When it comes to hospital care, nurses are considered to be the key caregivers that can significantly influence the quality of care which directly reflects the treatment and patient outcomes (Draper et al., 2008). The nurses are required to be alert and possess good decisiveness during road accidents. Developing nurses to provide quality service despite the urgency of treatment to road crash victims is necessary. The leadership in hospitals must support the training and equipping of nurses in the field of accident and emergency situations. An emergency nurse practitioner was described by Neades (1997) as to have a formal-basic education in “holistic assessment, physical diagnosis, and prescription of treatment and promotion of health”. Aside from the skills and personal competency of nurses, it is also equally important for them to maintain quality through shared responsibility. They must be able to work together with doctors and other professionals especially during road accidents. Establishment of good working ethics and professionalism will allow spontaneity on rendering quality service and avoid conflicts within the health care team. Conclusion Overall, there is no question how Australia has managed to control the occurrence of road fatalities over the years. Historically, they suffered from the devastating consequence as reflected by the social determinants of health like any other developed countries in the world. However, with the development of its National Road Safety Strategy and the top notch primary health care system, Australia now has the means to decrease the incidence of road accidents. It is increasingly important to emphasis the role of primary health care system to prevent and control the accidents on Australian roads. Everyone is responsible to strictly implement and abide in these efforts. The real challenge is on monitoring and maintaining the results of these initiatives and on how to cope with the continuously evolving needs and situation of the population. The only thing that can hinder Australia from overcoming this issue is if its citizens start again to care for themselves, not for others. References All Down Under. (2011). Australian Facts and Figures. Retrieved from: http://alldownunder.com/australian-facts/population-of-australia.htm. Archer, J. and K. Vogel. (2000). The traffic safety problem in urban areas. Retrieved from: www2.infra.kth.se/publications/ctr2000_03.pdf. Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2006). Population distribution: Youth migration within Australia. Retrieved from: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/2f762f95845417 aeca25706c00834efa/3d196e4d297f42c9ca2570eb0082f628!OpenDocument. Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2010). Measures of Australia’s Progress, 2010. Passenger Vehicles. 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Report 12, pp.1-116. Retrieved from: http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/resreport12/aifsreport12.pdf Turrell, G., Oldenburg, B., McGuffog, I., & Dent, R. (1999). Socio-economic determinants of health: towards a national research program and a policy and intervention agenda. Queensland University of Technology, Commonwealth of Australia. Wilkinson, R., & Marmot, M. (2003). Social determinants of health: The Solid Facts. World Health Organization, Denmark. 2nd ed. Retrieved from: http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/98438/e81384.pdf Read More