EMS World

NOV 2017

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EMERGENCY MEDICAL SCIENCE Paramedic Certification (Hybrid Program) • Fully CAAHEP Accredited • Hybrid Paramedic program offered through LCC Continuing Education Department. Only four on-site visits required for skills training and evaluations. All coursework is done online. Tuition is $360. • Clinicals can be completed in your area. Contact LCC regarding available areas. • Different course options that allow currently credentialed EMTs, AEMTs, or individuals with no certification to train for their Paramedic certification. • Graduates are eligible for the NCOEMS Paramedic exam and the National Registry Paramedic exam. Associate Degree in Emergency Medical Science — Bridging • All degree classes offered 100% online. • Currently credentialed state and national Paramedics earn up to 45 credits toward their degree just for being certified! • Designed for demanding EMS work schedules. Complete the degree at your own pace! Earn Your Degree Online! 231 Hwy. 58 South, Kinston, NC www.lenoircc.edu (252) 527-6223, ext. 115 jgtilghman38@lenoircc.edu Ranked Second in the Nation by bestcolleges.com! EMSWORLD.com | NOVEMBER 2017 17 needle sticks (21%) were the most common. Other than needle sticks, most exposures occurred to the eyes. There were an esti- mated 5,600 harmful exposures to the eyes nationally. Many of those eye exposures occurred when no eye protection was worn. Loss-of-balance injuries were the third most frequently reported diagnosis. The most common of these were falls from the same level (43%), representing an estimated 6,000 of these falls nationally during the study period. Other causes of loss-of-balance injuries included going up or down steps or a curb, getting in or out of the ambulance and slipping on wet surfaces. Patient-handling activities accounted for 56% of loss-of-balance injuries. Motor vehicle incidents accounted for about 8% of the injuries evaluated in this study. This is a good time to remember that the injuries examined in this study were nonfatal. It is well known that ground and air ambulance crashes are the leading cause of death among EMS professionals. The 8% reported here are those lucky ones who lived after their crashes. Although these individuals lived, about 66% had to miss a day or more of work. This was the highest proportion of missed work days among all injury types evaluated. The 8% also represents a much higher injury rate when compared to all workers in the general population. Finally there were approximately 6,400 injuries to EMS providers due to violence and assault. An estimated 3,300 involved physical violence. Seventy-one percent were directed at the EMS provider, and in all but an estimated 300 of these events, the patient was the perpetrator. Not surprisingly almost half involved a patient who appeared to be under the influence of alcohol. Police reports were made in only 42% of these events. Conclusion As we discuss each month, every study has limitations. The authors here did a nice job describing theirs. Most important was that these estimates are likely an underestimation of the true number of occu- pational injuries and illnesses experienced by EMS providers. The only injuries, illnesses and exposures included in this study were those where the EMS provider went to the ED for treatment. In other words, it excluded all the times someone self-treated or had a colleague assist them. There were also some limitations caused by the assumptions and adjustments to the statistical and sam- pling methods; I encourage you to read this paper to fully put these results into context. This study adds some very important data to the available lit- erature on occupational injuries and illnesses experienced by EMS providers. These results are valuable not only to leadership and deci- sion makers but can help all of us better understand how to keep ourselves safe on duty by increasing our understanding of the most prevalent dangers faced. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Antonio R. Fernandez, PhD, NRP, FAHA, is research director at the EMS Performance Improvement Center and an assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill. He has been a nationally certified paramedic since 2005 and completed the EMS Research Fellowship at the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians. For More Information Circle 19 on Reader Service Card

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