How EMTs and paramedics die
Firegeezer.com
Copyright 2007 Firegeezer

One of the first obstacles Dr. [Brian] Maguire encountered was that there was no single repository of occupational health information on EMS providers. His first study was on occupational fatalities. Analysis was conducted by using data from three independent fatality databases: the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (1992 to 1997), the National EMS Memorial Service (1992 to 1997), and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (1994 to 1997).

“Using the highest cause-specific count from each of the databases, we estimate that there were at least 67 ground transportation-related fatalities, 19 air ambulance crash fatalities, 13 deaths resulting from cardiovascular incidents, 10 homicides, and 5 other causes, resulting in 114 EMS worker fatalities during these 6 years. We estimated a rate of 12.7 fatalities per 100,000 EMS workers annually, which compares with 14.2 for police, 16.5 for firefighters, and a national average of 5.0 during the same time period”.

CONCLUSION: This study identifies an occupational fatality rate for EMS workers that exceeds that of the general population and is comparable with that of other emergency public service workers.

Full Story: EMTs, paramedics face high fatality rate