More than one-quarter (28%) of injured emergency medical services (EMS) workers surveyed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) said their injuries occurred as they were transferring, carrying, or lifting a patient at the time of injury – and often that patient was heavy, overweight, or obese.
NIOSH and the Office of Emergency Medical Services within the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration collaborated to survey EMS workers treated for occupational injuries and get more detail on the types of injuries they experienced.