FicWad

Apr 10, 2015

By Bryan Fass

One of the benefits of teaching more than 500 courses per year is I get to see plenty of routines in EMS and Fire -saving; of responders go designs, lift, pull, carry, transfer and simply walk. In addition, I get to listen to lots of stories about how few ever return to normal after an injury and how responders got hurt.

My aha instant one day was simply this: "EMS is in the moving company; we're movers!"

EMS is in the business that is moving

(Image Bryan Fass)

RELATED POSTS

The way to work with stretchers and cots with their full potential

2 EMS lifting ways to reduce harms

4 steps to stay injury free

ASSOCIATED CONTENT SPONSORED BY

Every aspect of our occupation is not mental, all of our tools are heavy and transferring individuals is a job task that is critical. Yet we spend little to no time training the way to move things safely.

A question I ask in all my courses is "When was the last time you had a thorough patient and equipment managing type?" What I get back are blank stares and eventually a couple of people grumbling, 'never.' We spend time training to do the essential occupation task, moving patients and never spend most if not all of our training time on operations and clinical superiority.

Departments need to do a much better job teaching providers they get hurt and how to prevent it since we are medical movers. The first thing we must examine is what the loads we raise do to our body.

How much weight is safe to lift?

NIOSH has a lift equation and it tells us one thing while complicated: The weight limitation for an individual to pick up off the floor is 51 pounds. Deciding on an item off the floor of that weight will set around 764 to 800 pounds of compressive load on the spine. If this appears like a lot, it is. We all know that at approximately 800 pounds, the spine of an untrained individual (someone who doesn't work out, is dehydrated, fatigued, or eats poorly) will begin to be injured. When was the final time you picked a 51-pound patient off the ground? Many suppliers carry a compressive load of over 2000 pounds every day; multiple times per shift. [ ] 1,2, 3

FEMA states in their emergency medical services handbook that raises should be limited by EMS below the knees. These raises generate a number of the highest spinal loads we see in suppliers. If we step out of the EMS box for a second we are able to take a look at other 'moving' professions and make the link that people are among the only professions that permit its employees to consistently lift loads that are extreme from below the knees on a frequent basis. So when what we perceive to be small loads really exceed what our body can manage, it leads to providers becoming very proficient at the dangerous movement of lifting from below the knees. [4]

Let us take it a step farther and look at lateral transfers. Pulling a 105- pound patient via bedsheet between two beds applies between 832 to 1,708 pounds of compressive force, while taking the same patient down a set of stairs compresses the spine . pounds with 1,012 to 1,281 [1,2] Again we often exceed the skill loads put upon or dampen the outside

4 tips for safer lifting

(Picture Bryan Fass)

1. Cease lifting in the floor

As we teach all our pupils, "use a tool, do not become the tool." Most systems already have the tools on the trucks that may transform the lift height. Use your MegaMover(TMark), Reeves(TMark), or Titan(TMark) to shift the lift height from the ground to almost knee height, where we are considerably more powerful and possess a better spine angle.

2. Use manages for lateral transports

Should you follow step one above, then the friction reducing device is already under the individual. Simply slide them over to the hospital bed by means of a tool that has handles and reduces friction. The handles mean that on the pull, responders usually do not have to lean over so far to begin the transfer.

3. Work jointly

If and when there are trained staff on scene, everyone is to the lift. As a culture EMS and Fire -rescue demand to understand that when one person cans hurt, then it only makes sense that a 350-pound patient demands all hands. This goes for your powered cots spot two individuals on the foot of the cot for loading to the truck.

4. Slow down

Among the best sayings in EMS is "it's not my emergency." Merely slowing down will allow you along with your partner andcrew to get in better lifting positions, use tools properly and think forward to ensure the lift or move is not dangerous for both you and also the patient.

"Your fitness will keep your life one day ... and every day" is my motto for all of public safety. This really is occupation that is 100 percent physical plus one of the sole items that'll save your life on scene as well as in life is your physical ability.

References

1. A structural equation modelling method of predicting adoption of a patient-handling intervention developed for EMS suppliers. Ergonomics 2013 24;56(11):1698-707. Epub 2013 Sep 24. Monica R Weiler, Steven A Lavender, J Mac Crawford, Paul A Reichelt, Karen M Conrad, Michael W Browne

2. Oregon OSHA. Fire Fighter and Emergency Medical Services Ergonomics Curriculum, www.cbs.state.or.us/osha/grants/ff_ergo/index.html.

3. McGill, S. Low Back Disaorders. Human Kinetics, 2007. P. 218-222.

4. FIRE AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES ERGONOMICS, A Guide for Understanding and Implementing, An Ergonomics Program in Your Department U. S. Fire Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency 16825 South Seton Avenue, Emmitsburg, MD 21727