title: Declining trends in injuries and ambulance calls for road traffic crashes in Bahrain post new traffic laws of 2015.
abstract: Road traffic crashes (RTC) are of serious global health concern. To identify whether the number of ambulance calls, injuries, and deaths has declined after the implementation of the new traffic law (NTL) 2015 in Bahrain, de-identified administrative RTC data obtained from the tertiary care center, and the General Directorate of Traffic (GDT) of Bahrain were used. A quasi-experimental design was employed to trend the impact of the NTL on RTC and associated healthcare events. Bahrainis and non-Bahrainis who met with RTC, either in a vehicle or as a pedestrian, between February 8 and May 8 in 2013, 2014 (pre NTL), and 2015 (post NTL) were included in the study. Our results show a reduction in the number of ambulance calls from vehicular and pedestrian RTC victims. The ambulance calls from pedestrian RTC victims were <10% compared to the number of ambulance calls from vehicular RTC victims. There was a significant reduction in minor injuries post 2015, whereas no obvious difference was seen for serious injuries and deaths. A longer follow-up study to confirm the sustained decline in RTC, enforcing a zero tolerance policy toward traffic transgressions, and raising public awareness on the "critical four minutes" and "golden hour" is recommended.
authors.affiliation: University of Bahrain, College of Health Sciences, Nursing Department-WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing Development, P.O. Box: 32038, Salmanya, Bahrain. Electronic address: msabri@uob.edu.bh.
authors.forename: Muyssar Sabri
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Awadhalla
authors.affiliation: College of Health Sciences, University of Bahrain, PO Box 32038, Salmanya, Bahrain.
authors.forename: Govindaraj Vaithinathan
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Asokan
authors.affiliation: International Training Centre, WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing Development, College of Health Sciences, University of Bahrain, PO Box 32038, Salmanya, Bahrain.
authors.forename: Amina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matooq
authors.affiliation: South Asian Cochrane Center and Network, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kirubakaran
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000401:mortality / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D001445:Bahrain; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D000069636:Pedestrians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Epidemiology; Injuries; Road traffic crashes