EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES WORKERS

NIOSH EMS Projects

Occupational injuries and illnesses among emergency medical services (EMS) workers

This is a collaborative project with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Emergency Medical Services. The purpose of this project is to conduct research to provide a detailed description of non-fatal occupational injuries and illnesses incurred by EMS workers, including the nature, circumstances, and outcomes of the injuries and illnesses and the characteristics of the injured or ill workers.

Project contact: Audrey Reichard
Division of Safety Research
(304)285-6019
Project period: 2009-2016

Partnering with Industry to Build Safe EMS Work Environments

This project builds on previous NIOSH research aimed at reducing or eliminating vehicle crash-related injuries and fatalities to Emergency Medical Service workers in ambulance patient compartments. NIOSH is partnering with the Department of Homeland Security to use the research data generated on predecessor projects to directly influence changes to the General Services Administration’s Federal Specification for the Star-of-Life Ambulance which largely governs the design of all ambulances purchased by the U.S. government and most state and local entities. Further, NIOSH is working directly with the Ambulance Manufacturer’s Division of the National Truck Equipment Association, which represents the builders of 90% of the ambulances built in North America, to expand the patient compartment consensus safety standards promulgated by the Association. The research team has secured the agreement and cooperation of both entities to work toward this common goal. Ongoing efforts include creating and validating individual standards for seating and worker restraints, litter and patient restraints, and equipment mounting. The long-term goal is to bring ambulance patient compartments up to the same level of safety found in passenger vehicles.

Project contact: James Green
Division of Safety Research
(304)285-5910
Project period: 2008-2012

Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program

The purpose of this project is to reduce fire fighter fatalities by identifying work situations at high risk for fatal injury and formulating prevention strategies for those who can intervene in the workplace. NIOSH conducts on-site investigations of many fire fighter line-of-duty deaths to identify the circumstances and conditions that contributed to the fatality, and then broadly disseminates recommendations for preventing future similar occurrences.

Project contact: Tim Merinar
Division of Safety Research
(304)285-5965
Project period: 1997-2016

Emergency Response Personnel

Emergency responders face known and unknown hazards from environments that may change rapidly with catastrophic failure consequences for the worker and general public. Rapid assessment and immediate, reliable information are required to meet the needs of these workers in order for them to properly and safely respond. This project centers on an assessment of those needs, evaluation of the information, and providing the most appropriate forms and channels of delivery to meet those needs. Much of the effort is focused on participation in planning, peer review and evaluation of the information and subsequent delivery by the most useful route. The information is designed to be used by emergency response workers during the various phases of emergency response situations, including planning, responding and mitigation.

Project contact: Gary Scott Dotson
Education and Information Division
(513)533-8540
Project period: 1996-2012

Pandemic Influenza Research Within the NIOSH Division of Applied Research and Technology

This project addresses occupational safety and health goals to protect workers from airborne exposures within commercial aircraft and healthcare workers and emergency responders from airborne, close-range airborne and droplet routes of disease transmission.

Project contact: Kenneth Mead
Division of Applied Research and Technology
(513)841-4385
Project period: 2009-2012

IDLH Values for Emergency Responders

The purpose of this project is to develop immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH) values for high priority chemicals based on the current state of science and risk assessment that are applied in emergency preparedness plans and emergency response.

Project contact: Gary Scott Dotson
Education and Information Division
(513)533-8540
Project period: 2010-2013

Dermal Exposures within Emergency Settings

The purpose of this project is to develop 1) skin notation assignments for high priority chemicals and 2) a decision logic process to be used as a dermal exposure/risk assessment tool for risk management and emergency response planning.

Project contact: Gary Scott Dotson
Education and Information Division
(513)533-8540
Project period: 2010-2013

NFPA Protective Clothing and Equipment Standards Development

The project purpose is continuous improvement in emergency services personal protective equipment (PPE) by the revision of existing standards and development of new standards. This continuous process considers new material technologies and design configurations which can be driven by performance criteria mandated in PPE certification standards. The implementation of these National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards enhances worker safety and health hazard prevention. NIOSH staff at the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory participate in the revision process of NFPA protective clothing, equipment, and selection, care and maintenance standards according to a timeline mandated by NFPA.

Project contact: William Haskell
National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory
(412)386-5230
Project period: 2006-2017