Being in a car accident is bad. Being in a car accident in rural Alabama is even worse, with sparse services contributing to fatality rates in those crashes being twice as high than those who wreck in urban areas. That's why state health officials are excited about a planned statewide trauma system that will link emergency response teams and create top-tier centers in six Alabama regions to care for the severest of cases.

Dr. John Campbell, director of the state health department's office of Emergency Medical Services and Trauma, said Monday the system could lower Alabama's annual trauma fatality rate by more than 12 percent by cutting down on the number of patients who are taken to the nearest hospital only to discover it's not equipped to treat them.

That happens to about 60 percent of Alabama's trauma patients, he said, and precious time is lost while the victims are transferred to a hospital that can help.

"Our goal is to never have to transfer anyone again," Campbell told the newly appointed Alabama Trauma Advisory Council at its first meeting. "No other state has this."

There's already such a system running in Birmingham, where the Birmingham Regional Emergency Medical Services System, or BREMSS, has been in place since 1996.

Legislators passed a bill earlier this year making it possible to expand that program statewide and the new system could be running in about 18 months, State Health Officer Don Williamson said.

The system is expected to cost around $40 million initially based on similar programs in other states and the money will go to help hospitals pay for expenses like indigent care, he said.

"Unfortunately, many of our citizens don't live in communities that are four minutes from a hospital," Williamson said. "There are long transit times and what we hope to do is create a virtual system that puts people as close to four minutes to a hospital as possible."

Officials said the system will make speedy treatment more attainable for those in rural areas where there are fewer doctors and hospitals with fully equipped surgical centers. Campbell said only 28 percent of Alabama's car accidents in 2005 were in rural areas, but those crashes accounted for 69 percent of the deaths.

On the other hand, he said, 72 percent of the accidents were in urban areas and accounted for 31 percent of the deaths.

The system uses software on an intranet and displays the resources each hospital has in real time. That way patients won't be taken somewhere they can't be accommodated and emergency rooms wont' be overwhelmed.

Joining the network is voluntary because organizers want hospitals to be thoroughly committed to the project, Campbell said. He said they've been getting positive responses from Alabama hospitals along with those in bordering Mississippi, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee.

The state has been divided into six regions where centers will be located. Top-tier centers, or Level One locations, will be able to provide a full range of care for severely injured patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week, he said.

Response teams will be involved as well as 9-1-1 centers, emergency medical technicians, ambulance services and helicopter companies. They will work together to get patients to the right places for their needs instead of just the closest hospital.

Chris Osborne, a former TV news reporter in Birmingham, had done stories on the city's trauma system, but didn't fully appreciate the network until he was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding his motorcycle in 2004.

He lay there severely injured and bleeding until some good Samaritans came by and activated the system by calling 9-1-1.

"The system ran very smoothly. It was: call, ambulance, helicopter on standby, trip to the hospital, survivor," said Osborne, whose left leg was amputated.

Osborne, who now works for the Red Cross, said everyone is a second away from disaster.

"You say it really won't happen to me, but I'm here to tell you that it really can happen to you. To have a unified trauma communication system is a must, it really is," he said. "Every second counts and every second helps."