Back to You, Jim...
Preventing a back injury is much easier than repairing one. Because your back is critically important to your ability to walk, sit, stand, and run, it's important to take care of it. Most back pain arises from using your back improperly, so learning a few basic rules about lifting, posture and proper exercise can help keep your back in good shape.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than one million workers suffer back injuries each year, and back injuries account for one of every five workplace injuries or illnesses. EMS has a much higher than average incidence of back injuries due to what we do.
We tend to take our backs for granted until we are in pain! Statistics show that such strains are the most common among workers. Back problems are costly. This includes taking off precious work time.
Medical experts say that back injuries have little to do with the weight of the lifted objects and everything to do with how they are lifted.
Moreover, though lifting, placing, carrying, holding and lowering are involved in manual materials handling (the principal cause of compensable work injuries) a BLS survey shows that four out of five of these injuries were to
the lower back and that three out of four occurred while the employee was lifting.
Nearly 80% of people will experience some type of back injury during their lifetime. This very common injury is caused by activities both on and off the job. Common causes of back injuries include lifting, twisting and reaching.
Many back injuries symptoms continue for years. Those involving vertebral disk impingement can become progressively debilitating and affect all aspects of your life.
As the first emergency responders to a scene, we have had the mantra of 'Identify and Treat Life Threats', Stabilize the Patient', 'Make a Transport Decision', and, of course, 'Load and Go' ingrained into us.
It is all of these imperatives, plus our compassion and deep felt need to help a person in distress, that can cause us to ignore THE cardinal rule of EMS –
Our Safety Comes Before All Other's
We usually equate that to scene safety but it applies to all aspects of our well being. If you hurt your back because you felt you couldn't wait another three minutes for additional resources, your actions may impact more than you or your family. You may be placed on the injured list meaning that while you may be able to support your EMS agency, your part in a critical incident may be severely limited.
So take a minute to consider whether it is ABSOLUTELY necessary to move a patient right now. Waiting a few minutes for additional resources to arrive would mean safer patient handling and less possibility of incurring a debilitating back injury.