Pre-hospital Service for Victims of Road Traffic Accidents

Road traffic accidents in Thailand, as is the case in some other developing countries, are on an alarming rising trend and pose a major loss for society. Statistics indicate that: a) the fatality rate from road traffic accidents increased more than fourfold during the past three decades; b) the number of fatalities caused by traffic accidents were 15,176 (1994 figure), and the number of injuries might be in the vicinity of 200,0001; c) the economic loss, estimated in terms of loss in human capital and the costs of cure and care, is huge, 2-3 percent of GDP (in 1993, the loss value amounted to over 74 billion baht); and d) road traffic accidents have already posed a heavy burden for hospital care. Traffic accidents are identified by Professor Vichitr Bunyahotara, former director of the Office for Accident Prevention, as one of the "development diseases" that are newly emerged in the present Thai society.