Cost of Preventing Treating Back Injury in EMS

Prevention of Back Injuries

Twenty percent of the injuries experienced in the work place in America are back injuries. In some areas, such as EMS, these injuries are responsible for the fact that at any point in time, ten percent of their workers are not working. Statistics from the Center for Disease Control actually reveal that the EMS had over 20% of all 27,000 work related sicknesses, being specifically lower back injuries (CDC, 2015). The nation pays dearly for back related injuries from the bills that are incurred as well as the income lost when workers are away from work. This amounts to about $50 billion of which $20 billion emanates from the injuries occurring in the medical field. Ironically, this surpasses the cost of similar injuries occurring in less surprising places, such as manufacturing, mining and construction industries. For a physician who is injured, the costs are estimated at $18,000 and this is a combination of the medical bills and income lost to both employer and the injured person (Collopy, Kivlehan and Snyder, 2014). This paper will discuss the reasons that should compel employers to take care of their employees' health, more so the back problems faced by the EMS workers.

Causes of Back Injuries in EMS and Prevention

The major cause of these injuries is lifting patients. This is true in 62% of the cases. The EMS staff normally has to be in an awkward position, make repeated motions as well as bear the weight of their patients when lifting them. These injuries are the same ones that occurred years ago, in spite of the fact that there are now slide boars, automatic-lift stretchers as well as other devices designed to ensure safe lifting. There is a lot of equipment that has been availed to EMS staff to assist in the safety of pre-hospital procedures. However, the injuries are still occurring. Thus, it seems that these tools are not the intervention that is needed. There is actually no proof that the provision of lifting equipment and training on the same can prevent the occurrence of back injury (Advice, 2015). In the BMJ article in Advice (2015), the author stated that these provisions were inadequate to deal with back injuries. As stated by Collopy, Kivlehan and Snyder (2014), prevention, training and monitoring must be adequately covered in any prevention program for back injury. There are many lifts that are needed when it comes to a normal patient transport. For example, where there is a hip injury when a standing fall has occurred, five lifts can be expected. The patient will be lifted onto the stretcher, then the stretcher is lifted to waist height, it is then lifted into the ambulance, lifted out of the ambulance and then the last lift occurs when the patient is lifted onto the hospital bed. The person doing all this lifting will experience pressure on different parts of the body and all these are potential injuries. This diversity of lifts cannot thus be addressed uniformly by one device or generalized training. However, the mechanics of safe lifting are applicable to all lifts (Collopy, Kivlehan and Snyder, 2014).

Back Injury Costs

Every back injury must have an evaluation at the outset. In the past, reserving between $5,000 and $8,000 for a back injury was considered normal. However, within the first few hours of an injury occurring, one can be expected to incur $6,000 and above through indirect costs. Presenting oneself for ED evaluation will result in bills for the professionals involved, the procedures such as x-rays as well as the medicine prescribed. Added on to this will be the cost to the employer in terms of paying a worker who is unable to work as well as their replacement for the time spent away. These costs put together amount to losses for organizations (Mitterer, 2015).

Possible Preventions

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in an endeavor to safeguard workers has established safety limits. Some examples of these include the 51 pound limit for single-person lifting and 764 pound spine compression force. This, however, is seen as impractical due to the fact that normal lifts go far beyond these limits, especially for spine compression. Adopting appropriate mechanics whenever one is lifting a load is one way of decreasing the possibility of injury. Other preventative actions include: having an adequate number of pre-hospital staff, employing suitable equipment for lifts, and elimination of single-person lifts. Some steps can be followed in order to achieve this as highlighted by Collopy, Kivlehan and Snyder, 2014).

Sizing up the load- this involves evaluating the load to be lifted so that it immediately becomes clear whether additional persons are required for the lift or not. It is always to the staff's advantage to acknowledge their limits and ask for help when necessary.

Establishing firm footing- this requires that a certain pose is assumed. The staff will stand with his/her feet shoulder width apart and place on foot a little ahead of the other. The weight should be shifted to the back as this will ensure their center of gravity is maintained.

Ensuring that the back is straight- in order to minimize the pressure on the spine, the staff should strive to keep straight backs even as they squat to lift the weight. It helps to imagine the back tied to a rod that makes a right angle with the ground.

Bending at the knees slowly- it is good to avoid jerky and fast movements, which result in injury. Instead, slow lifting and lowering movements, which concentrate the weight on the legs should be adopted.

Keeping the load close to the body- it is good to adopt the habit of having the object that is lifted as close to the lifter as possible as this will ensure that the center of gravity is maintained and the back does not experience pressure.

Always keeping the chin up- this allows for a straight back whenever one is lifting.