Just 10% of serious crash victims return to work after rehab

JUST one in 10 people seriously injured in road accidents who are admitted to the National Rehabilitation Hospital are ever able to return to work.

Dr Aine Carroll, a specialist in rehabilitation medicine at the Dún Laoghaire facility, claimed most road crash survivors with severe injuries would remain dependent on others for the rest of their lives.

Her comments come as the European Transport Safety Council called on EU member states not to neglect efforts to reduce the number of people seriously injured in road collisions by setting specific targets to lower the incidence of such injuries.

The ETSC claims the focus on road safety is often concentrated on reducing the number of fatalities, while the issue of people who are seriously injured in road collisions is sometimes overlooked.

“Thanks to more protective vehicles and roads, better emergency response and medical progress, many road deaths are prevented but survivors remain and many are seriously injured,” said an ETSC spokesperson.

Dr Carroll said only one in 10 patients on average at the National Rehabilitation Hospital are able to resume their normal working lives. Most patients admitted to the National Rehabilitation Hospital are young males involved in road accidents who have suffered traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, who might also require limb amputations.

Dr Carroll also criticised the lack of resources devoted to the treatment of road crash survivors.

A new report by the ETSC has highlighted how there has been a smaller reduction in serious injuries than in deaths across the EU since 2001.

In contrast, the rate of reduction in the number of people seriously injured in road collisions in Ireland over the past decade has been greater than the reduction in fatalities. Between 2001 and 2008, there has been an average annual fall of 9.7% in the number of seriously injured victims in Ireland compared to a 3.8% reduction in road deaths.

Ireland has the second lowest rate of seriously injured within the EU compared with the eighth lowest rate for road fatalities during the period 2006-2008. Two seriously injured people are registered for every death on Irish roads compared with 15 in Germany and 23 in Sweden. A total of 640 people were recorded as seriously injured in collisions on Irish roads last year compared with 907 in 2006, a reduction of almost 30%.