AUTOMATED COLLISION NOTIFICATION (ACN) FIELD OPERATIONAL TEST (FOT) FINAL REPORT

The goal of the Automated Collision Notification (ACN) Field Operational Test (FOT) was to design, develop and field test new technology to automatically detect and characterize potential injury-causing vehicle crashes and then provide 9-1-1 dispatchers with information about the crash events. The effort resulted in the development of specialized ACN equipment. This equipment was designed to be easily installed in vehicles and to operate independently of existing vehicle safety systems. The design integrated commercially available accelerometers, cellular communications equipment, Global Positioning Satellite receivers, and automated map display technologies. A critical component of the system was the crash recognition and characterization software that analyzed crash forces in real time to determine when thresholds indicating the likelihood of serious injuries were exceeded. The primary objectives of the FOT were to: 1) Identify and evaluate technical issues associated with ACN system reliability, effectiveness, and performance; 2) Evaluate deployment issues relating to the use of ACN systems by Emergency Medical Service and Public Safety agencies, and 3) Collect data to evaluate the potential benefits of the ACN system. To achieve these objectives a plan was executed with the following elements: 1) design and development of hardware and software that could reliably sense vehicle crashes that are likely to cause injuries and initiate automatic notification procedures; 2) recruitment of volunteers; 3) design, development and installation of communications, special processing, and display hardware and software; and 4) establishment of data collection procedures. The principal measure of performance was whether the use of ACN systems would reduce the time for delivery of medical care to victims of motor vehicle crashes. Baseline (non-ACN) response time data were collected to compare to the response times of crashes involving the ACN system.