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.
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/