American journal of industrial medicine
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Observational Study
Impact of shift duration on alertness among air-medical emergency care clinician shift workers.
Greater than half of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) shift workers report fatigue at work and most work long duration shifts. We sought to compare the alertness level of EMS shift workers by shift duration. ⋯ Deficits in performance in the air-medical setting may be greatest during night shifts and proximal to waking from an intra-shift nap. Future research should examine alertness and performance throughout air-medical shifts, as well as investigate the timing and duration of intra-shift naps on outcomes.
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The aim of this study was to examine adherence of state guidelines for Colorado workers' compensation physicians/providers treating individuals as injured workers with chronic pain after initiation of an opioid management program and provider incentives. ⋯ Incentivizing physicians to adhere to chronic pain management guidelines only temporarily improves prescribing practices.
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Violence against emergency medical services (EMS) personnel is a growing concern. The aim of this systematic review is to synthesize the current literature on violence against EMS personnel. ⋯ EMS leaders and personnel should work together with researchers to design, implement, evaluate and publish intervention studies designed to mitigate risks of violence to EMS personnel.
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Despite hazardous exposures to cancer-causing agents in the line of duty, the main health and safety concerns of active firefighters have yet to be studied. We compare the perceptions of health and cancer risks between rookie and experienced firefighters. ⋯ The perception of health and cancer risk of rookie and experienced firefighters differ in the prioritization of their concerns, however both groups equally report occupational cancer risk as their main health concern.
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Applications of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for military, recreational, public, and commercial uses have expanded significantly in recent years. In the construction industry, UAVs are used primarily for monitoring of construction workflow and job site logistics, inspecting construction sites to assess structural integrity, and for maintenance assessments. ⋯ At the same time, UAVs can perform dangerous tasks, thereby improving workplace safety. This paper describes the four major uses of UAVs, including their use in construction, the potential risks of their use to workers, approaches for risk mitigation, and the important role that safety and health professionals can play in ensuring safe approaches to the their use in the workplace.