Fatal Crash Coding and a Pending Blood Result
At 11:42 p.m. on a dry, clear night, a two-door coupe crosses the centerline on a rural two-lane state route and strikes an oncoming sedan. The sedan's 41-year-old driver is extricated and transported; she is pronounced dead at the hospital at 12:25 a.m. The coupe's 19-year-old driver has a fractured wrist and is transported. The initial trooper completes the crash report and codes the sedan driver as 'injured' because she was alive when EMS left the scene. A reconstructionist is called, and a blood sample from the coupe driver is pending. The crash occurred in a township with a part-time police department that asks who will handle the report. A reporter has already called the post asking for the name of the deceased and the crash narrative.
1. How should injury severity be coded, and why does the time of death matter?
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The driver should be coded as fatal, not injured. Under the state crash-reporting definition, a person who dies within 30 days of the crash is a fatal injury; here the death occurred 43 minutes after the crash. The initial 'injured' code reflected the patient's status when EMS left, but it is not the final coding. The trooper should amend the crash report as soon as the death is confirmed, document the hospital pronouncement time and the medical examiner or attending physician source, and ensure the state crash system and any FARS submission reflect the fatal classification. The narrative should distinguish crash time, extrication time, transport time, and pronouncement time. Leaving the report as 'injured' would undercount a fatal crash and distort the data.
2. Who should be the reporting agency, and what data-quality steps are required?
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OSHP investigated the crash and should be the reporting agency; the township's part-time department may assist with scene security or local traffic control but should not file a duplicate crash report. The trooper should coordinate with the reconstructionist and attach or reference the reconstruction supplement. Data-quality steps include verifying the roadway, weather, lighting, seat-belt and airbag fields, EMS transport destination, injury codes for both drivers, and contributing circumstances. The pending blood result should be noted as pending, not guessed; if it later shows impairment, the report and any supplemental narrative should be updated according to policy. A supervisor should review the report before submission because it is a fatal crash.
3. What can be released to the reporter at this stage, and what should be withheld?
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The reporter may receive the crash report, subject to redaction of personal identifiers and any information protected by law; the deceased's name is generally public once next of kin have been notified. The department should not confirm impairment or speed as the cause before the reconstruction and blood results are complete. The narrative can be released if it is a public record, but if it contains investigative work product whose release would impede the open case, the department should consult legal counsel and release the factual portions with a written explanation for any withheld portion. The public records officer should log the request, respond promptly, and avoid promising a 24-hour deadline. The response should not speculate about the pending blood test.