Ford Motor Company announced that it is assisting emergency medical personnel in exploring ways to make a more informed response with Ford's Automatic Crash Notification (ACN) technology. This technology was installed into 500 Crown Victoria police sedans in the Houston area in June for a two-year pilot in partnership with the Greater Harris County's 9-1-1 Emergency Network. According to Ford, when a crash occurs, the system is activated by the changes in g-forces on the vehicle in three directions. Sensors measure deceleration and direction - such as frontal, rear or side. The system also determines whether air bags were deployed, which seats throughout the vehicle are occupied, and if the occupants are wearing their safety belts. Vehicle orientation and location are determined with the help of sensors and global positioning satellites. The company says when a call comes in from one of the equipped vehicles, this information is routed to a call center, which establishes a voice link with the occupants in the car and connects the vehicle to the appropriate 9-1-1 center, known as the public safety answering point (PSAP). The op-erator at the PSAP dispatches help to callers in need of emergency assistance. Ford says with its ACN technology, even though the occupant may not be able to alert rescuers to his or her position, the automatically transmitted location data could help speed rescue efforts. Fur-thermore, knowing the number of occupants and the number of seatbelts in use could help to prepare hospital trauma workers to more quickly diagnose and treat the types of injuries they're likely to see, according to the company.