Those professions that would most be in danger of back pain and strains are not always what you would expect. Although it’s assumed that persons working factory jobs, package delivery, and various other jobs with heavy loads would be the most hazardous, there’s another type of occupation that actually leads to its fair share of orthopedic injuries every year: emergency medical services.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the findings related in a new report geared toward the emergency medical technician field. In it, the author explores some of those things that workers can do to protect themselves from harm. This will be especially important during the holidays, when a spike in the number of emergencies is sure to take place.
The best thing that you can do, whether you’re in the EMS field or not, is keep yourself in shape. When you have to lift heavy objects at work (and especially if that object is a person whose own momentum may be working against you), you need your back and your legs to be in optimum shape. There are a number of moves and exercises that can help in this regard (squats, crunches, etc.), and you should be engaging in these to protect yourself from harm.
Persons in this industry are advised to take their time when engaged in the lift. When someone is in danger and their lives may depend on getting to the hospital on time, the temptation will be to sacrifice your own personal safety for the person in the gurney. However, many situations will be not be quite that life and death, and you do yourself and the patient a disfavor when you don’t take the time to lift properly.
Those lifts should occur with the proper assistance. No one should have to load up a gurney or lift a patient all by themselves. Everyone onboard a given ambulance should be on the same page when it comes time to carry a load; they should lift at once in one smooth motion, calling for help if other members of the team are distracted.
Don’t conduct those lifts that you don’t need to. If you’re carrying a bulky machine, you should be taking the same care you would with a patient or any other kind of weight. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if it’s needed.
Finally, treat patient transport like the physical activity that it is by warming up and stretching your body prior to a shift. In this way, you prepare yourself for the challenges that lie ahead.
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