EMS World Expo 2018

EMS personnel play an integral role in public health and safety worldwide. In the United States, almost 1 million EMS personnel respond to more than 30 million calls for assistance each year. Recent research has documented that the EMS profession is one of the most dangerous; in the United States, occupational fatality rates have been shown to be comparable to the rates of police and firefighters. The nonfatal injury rates for EMS personnel are far above the average for police and firefighters. More specific data available in Australia show that EMS personnel have a higher occupational fatality rate and injury rate than any other occupational group in the country; the injury rate for paramedics is twice as high as that of police officers. Research has also highlighted differences in risk by gender among EMS personnel. This presentation will highlight the occupational risks for EMS personnel and review what we know about the types of injuries, body parts injured and the events that cause the most risks for EMS personnel. We will discuss interventions that can be taken by EMS administrators, supervisors and personnel to reduce the risks of occupational injury and fatality.