title: Occupational injury rates in personnel of emergency medical services.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The system of emergency medical services (EMS) in Poland was established in 2006. The risk of occupational injuries to EMS personnel is very high, irrespective of the country where they operate, as they face many hazards in their everyday work. The aim of this study is to describe the type, incidence and consequences of occupational accidents among the personnel of the National Emergency Medical Services in Poland (NEMS - land and air ambulance crews) in 2008-2012.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study reviewed all occupational accidents among the EMS personnel reported to the National Labour Inspectorate in 2008-2012.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the period reported, the number of accidents decreased from 32 in 2008 to just 6 in 2012. Traffic accidents predominated and most of the victims were male paramedics under 30 years of age. The most common injuries included multiple organ injuries and injuries of the cervical spine, chest and trunk.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The growing professional experience of the EMS personnel has a beneficial effect on occupational injury rates as they tend to decrease with longer employment. Occupational accidents are definitely more common among ambulance crews than in the personnel of other organizational units of the National Emergency Medical Services.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medical Services, Medical University, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gałązkowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medical Services, Medical University, Warsaw, Poland Department of Medicine of Disasters, Medical University, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Aneta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Binkowska
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Medical University, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Samoliński
mesh_terms: D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000328:Adult; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004634:Emergency Medical Technicians; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult