Brian J. Maguire, Dr.PH,
MSA
Clinical Associate Professor
Associate Graduate Program Director
Department of Emergency Health Services
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
maguire@umbc.edu
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Maguire
BJ, Hunting KL, Smith GS, Levick NR. Occupational Fatalities in EMS: A
Hidden Crisis. Annals of Emergency
Medicine. 2002; 40(6): 625-632.
Study objective: We estimate the occupational fatality rate among
emergency medical services (EMS) personnel in the United States.
Methods: We undertook descriptive epidemiology of occupational
fatalities among EMS providers. Analysis was conducted by using data
from 3 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). These rates were
compared with the occupational fatality rates of police and
firefighters and with the rate of all employed persons in the United
States.
Results: The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries database documented
91 EMS provider occupational fatalities. The National EMS Memorial
Service database contained 70 fatalities, and the Fatality Analysis
Reporting System identified 8 ground transportation EMS occupational
fatalities. There was also wide variation in fatality counts by cause
of injury. 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.
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