ORCID

Abstract

Introduction: Road traffic injuries constitute a significant global health burden, causing 1.3 million deaths and 50million injuries annually, with 92 % of fatalities occurring in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despitethis disproportionate impact, research priorities in post-collision care often reflect high-income country contexts,creating a critical misalignment between evidence generation and contextual realities in LMICs.Methods: This mixed-methods study employed a three-phase approach to identify research priorities for postcollision care in the Western Cape, South Africa. Phase 1 consisted of a comprehensive literature review toidentify preliminary thematic areas and research questions. Phase 2 involved a stakeholder engagement workshop using modified nominal group techniques (NGT) with purposively sampled participants representingemergency medical services, fire services, law enforcement, community members and academia. Phase 3 entailedsystematic prioritisation, where participants independently scored each theme and associated research questionson a Likert scale.Results: Eight thematic domains were identified and ranked in order of priority. EMS safety (highest priority),communication and coordination, public awareness and prevention, transportation and access to care, firstresponder capabilities, training implementation, resource optimisation, disaster and mass casualty management, and specialised care accessibility. The highest-ranked individual research question concerned the minimum set of practical skills and resources required by first responders to effectively provide immediate postcollision care. Technological integration emerged as a cross-cutting priority across multiple themes.Conclusion: The study represents the first published systematic approach to identifying post-collision careresearch priorities in South Africa. Diverging from previous exercises that emphasise advanced interventions orsystem integration, this study highlights foundational challenges of EMS safety and communication as top priorities, reflecting the contextual realities of emergency service delivery in South Africa. The findings provide astrategic roadmap for researchers, funders, and policymakers to direct resources toward questions with maximalpotential to improve post-collision care and strengthen health systems in similar LMIC contexts.

Publication Date

2025-01-01

Publication Title

African Journal of Emergency Medicine

Volume

15

Issue

4

ISSN

2211-419X

Acceptance Date

2025-08-19

Deposit Date

2025-10-10

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