Alaska Crash Outcomes Pilot Project (ACOPP)
The Alaska Crash Outcomes Pilot Project (ACOPP) is funded by the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration (Section “408” funds administered by the Alaska DOT and PF ) and managed by the DHSS Section of Health Planning and Systems Development. The goal of the Alaska Crash Outcomes Pilot Project (ACOPP) is to link and analyze multiple data sets, such as state highway crash data and emergency room data, so that highway safety can be improved and the unnecessary burden of death, disability and associated costs of motor vehicle crashes can be reduced.
Throughout this project the DHSS Section of Health Planning and Systems Development collaborates with the Section of Injury Prevention and Emergency Medical Services (IPEMS) to get Alaska Trauma Registry data and, when available, the pre-hospital data. Alaska Trauma Registry data, used to track causes and magnitude of crash injury problems, will be linked to crash data, so that cost and outcomes can be used by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities for research and policy development and to “inform traffic safety program development.”
As stated by the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration: “Injuries resulting from motor vehicle crashes can be prevented, or reduced, but only if we understand their type, severity and cost in relation to the characteristics of the crash, vehicles, and persons involved. Crash data alone do not indicate the injury problem in terms of the medical and financial consequences. By linking crash, vehicle, and behavior characteristics to their specific medical and financial outcomes, we can identify prevention factors.”
An advisory committee including the Alaska Injury Prevention Center, Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association, DOT&PF staff, and Public Safety and potentially other stakeholders provide guidance and feedback to project staff.
The ACOPP will develop an integrated system for regularly analyzing and reporting crash data, weather and road condition data, and “outcomes” including the injuries sustained, long term health status, and costs of care and rehabilitation. The project utilizes multiple data sets from traffic records and public health to analyze outcomes and inform policy and hospital discharge and emergency department data to learn more about how to improve highway safety.
- Analyze characteristics of the crash, vehicles, and persons involved in relation to outcomes to enable highway safety planners to prioritize strategies to reduce motor vehicle crash incidence; develop, post, evaluate and refine (with Advisory Committee input) regular reports;
- Analyze, report, and post data on crash conditions and outcomes to identify potential strategies to reduce deaths and severity of injury; and
- Demonstrate efficiency and efficacy of application of the accepted analytical software using Alaska data resources for providing results for surveillance, evaluation of highway, first responder, and emergency department’s changes in practice, and for planning purposes.
October 2008–September 2010 (two years).
Data and Presentations:
For additional information, please contact:
Mary McEwen, Planner IV