Safety by Design: NIOSH partnership helps protect workers in ambulances
Fast and efficient responses to crash events and disasters depend upon emergency medical services (EMS) workers, who include first responders, emergency medical technicians, and paramedics, as well as firefighters and nurses. Often, EMS workers treat patients in ambulances en route to the hospital, which presents the inherent risk of high-speed travel. In fact, nationwide, EMS workers are more likely to die on the job compared to all other workers, with nearly half of these deaths stemming from motor vehicle crashes on our highways. Between 1992 and 2011, 21% of deaths from ambulance crashes were among EMS workers and patients, and 4% were among ambulance drivers, according to data from the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration. In the majority of these crashes, the EMS worker was unrestrained.
To decrease the risk, investigators at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) work with several federal partners and private ambulance manufacturers to design safer patient compartments for ambulances. The goal of this work is to design interiors that would allow the EMS worker to do his or her job while remaining seated and properly restrained. This research also aligns with the NIOSH Prevention through Design initiative, which strives to protect workers by minimizing work-related safety and health risks by building safety into the design and manufacturing process.