Project SAVE

The project SAVE was the first international project of the Crash Research Group. The objectives were to understand the magnitude and backgrounds of road traffic crashes in Vietnam and to subsequently improve emergency and trauma care. The setting for the study was the City and District of Thaibinh in Northern Vietnam.

Vietnam belongs to the so called developing countries. The enormous economic development results in urbanisation and motorisation…and vice versa. Nowadays innumerable small motorcycles are on the streets of the south east Asian country, but soon there will be cars, buses and camions. Actual crash statistics report a frightening increase in the number of crashes and fatalities. The project SAVE is a joint project of the universities Greifswald (Germany), Pecs (Hungary) and Thaibinh (Vietnam). It is part of the ASIA – Link – Programme of the European Union. Aim of the Project SAVE is to develop and implement measurements for road traffic crash prevention and improvement of the emergency medical care of the injured.

Road safety education in Vietnamese schools






In order to get a basic insight into the real crash scenario, a computer based databank was installed at the emergency department of the Thai Binh Medical University and thus enabling documentation of data regarding the crash mechanism and resulting injuries. Over and above, a questionnaire study was conducted among 1000 young road users. The questionnaire asked for the type of road use, behaviour in road traffic and attitudes towards road safety. As a key result, the majority of the study sample uses a bicycle or light motorized two-wheeled vehicle, both of which were used for private transport and transport of heavy goods.

Motorcycle helmets are worn by a minority of the participants. Other risky behaviours, for example using a mobile phone while driving a motorcycle, driving under the influence of alcohol, driving without a license or carrying more than one pillion on a two wheeler were reported more frequently than expected. The majority of the study sample cited the school or the university as the most important source of road safety information.

Promotional material for students






Consequently, a road safety education project for students has been developed in collaboration with the Vietnamese partners. In the province Thaibinh – which has approximately the same size as Western-Pomerania – t-shirts, school notebooks and other materials have been distributed to students. These were printed with coloured comic strip heroes who promote safe behaviour in road traffic. Furthermore, teachers were taught to inform students about safe road behaviour (“snowball principle”). All the participating schools have committed to provide four hours per month for such road safety lessons.

A strong improvement of emergency care for victims of crashes in Thaibinh has been achieved through the implementation of an “Emergency Trauma Care Course”. The first course took place in autumn 2006. In the meanwhile five consecutive courses have been conducted with a total of more than hundred doctors from the whole province. Further courses outside the Thaibinh Medical University were and are still conducted in smaller hospitals by the Vietnamese partners (“snowball principle”).

Impressions of the first course in autumn 2006…





…which are today conducted by Vietnamese doctors






Hands-on-training at the University Hospital Greifswald played an important role in the comprehensive binational educational strategy. More than ten Vietnamese doctors spent several weeks in the German partner hospitals. Another three Vietnamese doctors spent several months at the University Hospital Greifswald. Key teaching issues comprise advance emergency and rehabilitation care, hospital management, and research methods.

Hands-on training at the University Hospital Greifswald





Top representatives of the participating University Hospitals did not only coordinate all the activities but managed to disseminate road safety contents in the Vietnamese administration, political strata and media. This must result in a positive image of road safety issues. In october 2007, a catalogue with detailed prevention measures was presented to political leaders and the mass media at the final conference in Vietnam.

Final conference in Thaibinh 2007

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