Hamilton paramedics benefit from powered stretchers

A new University of Waterloo study says EMS workers in Hamilton suffered far more on-the-job injuries than their counterparts in Niagara who were using powered stretchers instead of manual ones.

The multi-year study was released Monday. It used data up to 2015.

The study found Hamilton workers had an injury rate of 24.6 per 100 workers compared to 4.3 per 100 in Niagara, and argued the discrepancy was mostly because of the use of new hydraulic stretchers that had been put in use in Niagara.

“In terms of injury rates from handling stretchers, we saw a 78 per cent reduction after they implemented powered stretcher and load systems at the Niagara Emergency Medical Service,” said Steven Fischer, one of the authors of the study.

The City of Hamilton has since paid $1.6 million to upgrade to powered stretchers, which are in use today.

Mario Posteraro, president of Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 256, which represents Hamilton’s paramedics, said the technology has made a huge difference for EMS workers. He believes there has been a large reduction in workplace injuries.

“There is less strain on their backs and shoulders with powered stretchers versus the conventional lift and push structure,” said Posteraro.

No specific numbers for injuries were available. Hal Klassen, operations commander for Hamilton Paramedic Service, could not be reached Monday.

Daniel Armstrong, the study’s lead author and a graduate student in the Department of Kinesiology at Waterloo, said: “Although the units may seem expensive, they appear to offer a significant return on investment . ... The added cost to purchase power stretchers and load systems would be recovered within their expected seven-year service life due to the reduction in injury-related costs.”

Fischer said the discussion about powered versus manual stretchers is part of growing awareness that paramedics are subjected to major stresses on the job that mean frequent injuries and short careers.

Yet Fischer said much more study is needed to more fully understand the issues.

Physical and mental stresses on the job are far better understood with firefighters and police officers than with EMS workers, he said.

Posteraro said: “Our profession always seems to lag behind the other emergency assistance services. “I don’t think anyone can deny the relatively short career span of paramedics and that is the result of the continual strain on the body by virtue of lifting the stretchers with patients on them.”

Paramedics experience the highest incidence of work-related injury, according to data from the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board.

Paramedics, Fischer said, are called upon to lift more than 800 kilograms per shift. But powered stretchers can go a long way in mitigating that, he said.