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Musculoskeletal injury risks for ambulance workers

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journal contribution
posted on 2015-08-18, 14:46 authored by Sue HignettSue Hignett
The provision of emergency and urgent care has been recognised for many years as exposing ambulance workers to high risks of musculoskeletal injuries (Turnbull et al, 1992; Rodgers, 1998; ROSPA, 2000; Lavender et al, 2000; Maguire et al, 2005). Although the tasks and job roles may vary in different countries (e.g. combination of paramedic and fire fighter roles), the evidence seems to be compelling that ‘ambulance workers [are] at a relatively higher risk of permanent medical impairment and early retirement on medical grounds than other occupational groups’ and have more ‘somatic health problems’ (e.g. musculoskeletal disorders) than the general population (Sterud et al, 2006). Recent research indicates that the prevalence of musculoskeletal discomfort and injuries may not have significantly reduced since the 1990s with over 50% of paramedics continuing to have musculoskeletal pain or discomfort on a regular basis (Arial et al, 2014); it seems reasonable to suggest that these problems may still be contributing to early retirement on medical grounds (Rodgers, 1998).

History

School

  • Design

Published in

Journal of Paramedic Practice: the clinical monthly for emergency care professionals

Volume

7

Issue

6

Pages

226 - 227

Citation

HIGNETT, S.M., 2015. Musculoskeletal injury risks for ambulance workers. Journal of Paramedic Practice: the Clinical Monthly for Emergency Care Professionals, 7 (6), pp.226-227.

Publisher

© Mark Allen Healthcare

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Publisher statement

This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Publication date

2015

Notes

This paper was accepted for publication in the Journal of Paramedic Practice. The definitive published version is available from: http://www.paramedicpractice.com/

ISSN

1759-1376

eISSN

2041-9457

Language

  • en

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