Urgent call from a vehicle: Research in Essen aims to enhance emergency medical treatments
In a groundbreaking development, the University Hospital Essen AöR is leading a research project aimed at enhancing emergency medicine response to severe traffic accidents. The project, which involves the Clinic for Trauma, Hand, and Reconstructive Surgery at the University Medicine Essen and the Medical Faculty of the University of Duisburg-Essen, is centred around the eCall system, an automated emergency call system that is expected to be fitted in all passenger cars due to a legal obligation.
The research team has demonstrated the usefulness of a digital rescue chain using a severe accident involving three vehicles as an example. In this case, an automatic eCall from one of the cars triggered the early alerting of the rescue service, even though the severely injured patient was in another vehicle. This underscores the potential of the eCall system to save valuable time in emergency situations.
The project's primary objective is to improve emergency medicine by objectifying the flow of information to rescue forces and making accident data from eCall systems available. By linking the automatically recorded accident data from cars with treatment data, the researchers aim to provide faster and better assistance to patients after severe traffic accidents.
The researchers plan to expand the project regionally and try to automate the data connection to consider more accident data. They also intend to evaluate further accident data, such as changes in driving speed during the accident event or the number and seating positions of occupants, to prepare the deployment personnel better.
The trend shows a clear upward trajectory, with four more links to the TraumaRegister of the German Society for Trauma Surgery (TR-DGU®) established this year after the first linking with a severely injured person in 2024.
Dr. Bastian Brune, a key member of the research team, was recently awarded the annual award in the category "Health and Science" at the 10th Essen Health Forum of the Medical Society e.V. Essen.Gesund.Vernetzt on July 5, 2025, for his research work "Evaluation of Accident Events after eCall Alert."
While specific data evaluation details from University Hospital Essen AöR are not extensively covered in the available documents, typical goals of such evaluations would include assessing the accuracy, reliability, and time efficiency of the eCall system in detecting severe accidents and triggering ambulances promptly. Evaluation metrics might cover system sensitivity in recognising emergencies, specificity to avoid false alarms, and overall impact on patient outcomes like survival rates and functional recovery.
For more precise insights into the University Hospital Essen AöR's eCall project and its specific aims and data evaluation results regarding emergency medicine for severe traffic accidents, additional sources directly related to their eCall project would be necessary. If you require further information or a more focused search, I would be happy to assist.
Science and technology are integral components of the University Hospital Essen AöR's eCall project, aimed at improving health-and-wellness in emergency situations, particularly severe traffic accidents. The researchers are evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of the eCall system, focusing on aspects such as accuracy, reliability, and time efficiency, to enhance emergency medicine response.
