FicWad

2015 , Apr 10

By Bryan Fass

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

My aha moment one day was just this: "EMS is in the moving business; we're movers!"

EMS is in the moving company

(Image Bryan Fass)

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Every aspect of our job is physical, all of our tools are heavy and individuals that are moving is an occupation task that is critical. Yet as a profession we spend little to no time training how to transfer things safely.

A question I ask in all my courses is "When was the last time you had a detailed patient and gear managing group?" What I get back are blank stares and finally a couple of folks grumbling, 'never.' We spend time training to do the most crucial occupation task, transferring patients and not spend most if not all of our training time on clinical superiority and operations.

Since we're medical movers, sections must do a much better job teaching providers they get hurt and the best way to prevent it. The first thing we need to examine is what the loads we lift do to our body.

Just how much weight is safe to lift?

NIOSH has a lift equation and it tells us one thing, while complicated: The weight limit for someone is 51 pounds. Deciding an item off the floor of the weight will set around 764 to 800 pounds of compressive load on the backbone. It's, if this seems like a lot. We all know that at approximately 800 pounds, the back of an untrained individual (someone who will not work out, is dehydrated, fatigued, or eats ill) will start to be injured. When was the most recent time you picked on a 51-pound patient off the floor? Many providers take 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 EMS should limit lifts below the knees. These lifts create a number of the greatest spinal loads we see in suppliers. If we step out of the EMS box for a second we are able to examine ' professions going and make the connection that we are among the only professions that enable its workers to regularly lift https://www.cafephilosophy.eu/bookmarks/view/27989/hoyer-lifts-permit-someone-to-become-elevated-and-transferred-having-a-minimum-of-real-energy from below the knees often. So when what we perceive to be modest loads really exceed what our body can handle, it leads to suppliers becoming quite proficient at the dangerous motion of lifting from below the knees. [4]

Let's look at lateral transports and take it a step further. Pulling a 105- between 832 to 1,708 pounds of compressive force, while is applied by pound patient via bedsheet between two beds 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 of the human body to dissipate external the or dampen loads put upon it.

4 tips for safer lifting

(Image Bryan Fass)

1. Quit lifting from the floor

As we educate all our students, "use a tool, do not become the tool." Most systems already have the tools on the trucks that may alter the lift height. Use your MegaMover(TMark), Reeves(TMark), or Titan(TMark) to shift the elevator height from the ground to almost knee height, where we're much stronger and have a much better spine angle.

2. Use manages for lateral transfers

Then the friction has already been under the individual, if you follow step one above. Simply slide them over to the hospital bed utilizing a tool that already reduces friction and has handles. The handles mean that on the pull, responders usually do not have to lean over so far to begin the transfer.

3. Work collectively

If and when there are trained personnel on scene, everyone is on the lift. As a culture Fire and EMS -rescue demand to comprehend that when one individual can be hurt by 51 pounds, then it merely is sensible that a 350-pound patient demands all hands working together. This goes for your cots that are powered position two folks on the foot of the cot for loading to the truck.

4. Slow down

Among the best expressions in EMS is "it is not my emergency." Just slowing down will allow you as well as think ahead to ensure that the lift or move is safe for you as well as the patient, use tools properly and your partner andcrew to get in better lifting locations.

"Your fitness will save your life one day ... and every day" is my slogan for all of public security. This really is job that is 100 percent physical plus among the only real items that may keep your own life on scene as well as in life is the 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. Michael W Browne, Monica R Weiler, Steven A Lavender, J Mac Crawford, Paul A Reichelt, Karen M Conrad

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