Passenger car safety and emergency healthcare: a literature review

摘要

Health emergencies occur in passenger cars where victims do not have immediate access to either a layperson or professional, proper medical services, resulting in deterioration of their health or death. Installation of a robotic first aid system for passenger car occupants has been proposed. This paper discusses the general situation in the automotive industry pertaining to healthcare in medical emergencies. It presents the top priorities in new-car purchase with regards to vehicle safety and delves into the health emergencies that occur in passenger cars. The prevalence and effectiveness of existing forms of response to the emergencies are also discussed. Autonomous driving and its implications on vehicle safety is reviewed, along with the challenges the technology faces. Likewise, the use of robots in human surgical procedures and challenges faced by the field is discussed. Finally, robotic first aid as a research area is investigated. Findings indicate that vehicle safety is a top priority in new-car purchase. Besides trauma in road traffic accidents, car occupants also face non-trauma emergencies such as stroke or heart attack. For areas with effective emergency medical services, the greatest delays in responding to emergencies come from the reaction of patients and bystanders. Results also show that, in comparison to the myriad of faults human drivers exhibit while driving, computers are the ideal motorists. Likewise, robots show strong potential to transcend the limitations of human healthcare in surgical procedures. Like autonomous vehicle technology, robotic surgery is marred with scientific, legislative and socioeconomic challenges, but it is evident that the idea of robotics and artificial intelligence envisaged in the concepts seems to be in the right direction for public health. It is concluded that the passenger car robotic first aid system should be developed, making considerations for challenges already faced in autonomous driving and robotic surgery technologies.