Injuries to paramedics lead to $20M stretcher upgrade

First responders suffering injuries from loading obese patients has triggered a $20-million retrofit of stretchers for Alberta Health Services’ fleet of 350 ambulances.

By March, the AHS ambulance fleet will have hydraulic stretchers that can accommodate patients up to 700 pounds. Current stretchers can hold the same patient weight but paramedics must do the heavy lifting to get the patients in and out of the ambulances.

“There hasn’t been an innovation like this that helps moving patients since ambulances came around,” Alex Campbell, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) public education

officer with AHS, said last week.

Paramedics, he said, have a much higher injury rate than the rest of the health care workforce just because of their working environment.

“Lifting injuries and back injuries are ones that we are critically aware of, and it is a major factor with some people having their career end or have to find a different job because they are unable to lift patients any longer,” he said. “But this new stretcher system will help our paramedics have longer and safer careers.”

AHS doesn’t track bariatric care related injuries, said Kirsten Goruk, spokesperson for AHS. But the department knows that repetitive lifting of patients is one of the leading causes of debilitating injuries among EMS staff, she said.

According to Statistics Canada, one in four adult Canadians is obese. And it’s not just the patient that a paramedic has to transport, Campbell said. A patient transport entails carrying medical equipment, which can weigh an additional 45 kg (100 pounds) plus the weight of the stretcher.

The number of times a paramedic may have to lift a patient during a shift can range from four — in the hospital, for example — to more than 10.

And the number of patients moved varies by shift and division, he said. A regular 911 emergency ambulance crew would typically see between 10 and 32 patients per 48-hour shift rotation, done in 12-hour shifts.

While the hydraulic stretchers will go a long way to lighten the load and help paramedics avoid injuries, they still will not help much when paramedics have to move patients to stretchers from beds or floors, or when patients are unconscious.

“Then we employ different techniques, such as tarps that have panels on them so that we can carry the patient,” Campbell said. And that is where the fire department comes in.

“The fire department plays a major role in our medical calls in that they are our muscle,” he said. “They are able to help us move the patient quickly.”

While AHS doesn’t specifically track the number of injuries caused to paramedics from lifting obese patients, Edmonton Fire Rescue Services does.

In 2016, fire services had 85 liftassist calls, and so far this year, they’ve had at least 128. Between Oct. 13, 2015, and Oct. 12, 2017, fire service personnel alone sustained seven injuries that resulted in lost time from lifting patients with and without stretchers, said Maya Filipova, spokeswoman for fire services.

“Of all the calls Edmonton Fire Rescue Service responds to, almost 68 per cent are medical calls,” said fire Chief Ken Block, in a statement.

“Although there have been more lift assists requested so far in 2017 than in 2016, this is a service that we are prepared to provide and it is support that is important to the citizen in need.”