Paramedic UK » Health & Safety

Company didn’t call ambulance for worker with broken neck

Editor — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:14:03 +0000

A trained first-aider assessed Mr Hill but did not recognise the seriousness of his injuries. Nobody called an ambulance and instead the first-aider drove Mr Hill by car to a hospital, where he was diagnosed as having suffered a broken neck and wrist. He spent six weeks in hospital and 14 weeks in halo traction. He has been unable to return to work owing to his injuries and still suffers from discomfort in his neck.

via SHP – Safety and Health Practitoner.

Shift work is a health risk

Editor — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:41:12 +0000

Shift work is so hazardous that it should be declared an occupational health hazard, a medical journal say.

An editorial in PLoS Medicine says the poor diet of shift workers should be considered a workplace health issue.

“Shift work has the potential to accelerate the progression of the global epidemic of obesity and diabetes,” they say.

The editors cite a study published in the journal earlier in December which found a link between rotating night-shift work and type 2 diabetes.

The study found more than 11 per cent of nurses who had worked rotating hours for more than 10 years had an increased risk of the disease. The risk was unavoidable for many health-care workers, where virtually everyone would be exposed to working varying shifts at some point in their careers, they say. Late-night workers might be more likely to grab a fast, less-nutritious meal than those who work normal business hours.

via Adelaide Now.

Ignorance of first aid behind health and safety concerns

Editor — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 11:04:02 +0000

The chief executive of St John Ambulance said that worries about exposing people to risks, or being sued if things go wrong, are often used as excuses for events being cancelled.

Sue Killen told The Daily Telegraph that at the heart of these concerns is a fear of not understanding basic medical techniques.

She said that accidents cannot be avoided, even with the best health and safety assessments, and so lives could be saved if more people learned how to do first aid.

Better training would have a much greater effect on the cautious health and safety culture than changes to regulations discussed by Government, it is claimed. St John Ambulance teaches first aid skills to as many as 800,000 people a year as well as providing support to emergency services at public events.

via Telegraph.

First aiders a must for all businesses

Editor — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 14:36:57 +0000

Many companies who fail to ensure that they have trained first aiders working over the summer holiday months could potentially be facing prosecution.

St John Ambulance is urging businesses to comply with the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981, which means all businesses must have adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and staff to enable first aid to be given at work.

Fred Owen, Regional Training Manager for St John Ambulance in the North East said: ‘More staff are away in summer than any other time of the year but unfortunately accidents don’t take holidays.

via Bdaily

999 crews to lose ‘health and safety’

Editor — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 08:43:09 +0000

Emergency services workers will no longer be subject to health and safety legislation in a move that could save lives.

According to comments from Lord Young of Graffham, who is heading a review of health and safety regulations for David Cameron, rules imposed on police officers, ambulance workers and firefighters are endangering the public and could be abolished.

“There have been three instances of police officers standing by watching children drown and not doing anything because of health and safety concerns,” said Lord Young. “We’ve got children dying because of health and safety. Well, I’m sorry, that is just wrong and we are going to change it.”

Lord Young said emergency services workers should no longer be covered by a law designed to protect people working in totally different situations. “If you are a policeman then you get paid for doing a job which involves risk,” he said.

via 999 crews to lose ‘health and safety’ – Scotsman.com News.

What Is First Aid? What is the Recovery Position?

Editor — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:02:02 +0000

Medical News Today has published an interesting article about First Aid. It’s a brief history of first aid and has detailed information about basic life support.

Perhaps first aid will be taught in schools one day.

“Globally, millions of people die each year as a result of accidents or serious injury. Unfortunately, many of those deaths could have been prevented had first aid been administered at the scene immediately, before the emergency services arrived.

“First aid, or emergency first aid is the care that is given to an injured or sick person prior to treatment by medically trained personnel.”

Read full article: Medical News Today.

Hazardous Area Response Teams

Editor — Thu, 28 May 2009 11:08:08 +0000

Firefighters in Hertfordshire are training paramedics to use breathing equipment so they can treat victims of chemical spills, even before they are moved to a safe area.

Until now, ambulance crews have had to wait while firefighters remove casualties away from the immediate area of a spill, but new hazardous area response (HART) teams will start work towards the end of this year, treating casualties on the spot to increase their chance of survival.

Read full article: St Albans & Harpenden Review.

Training to help health staff handle obese patients

Editor — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:46:45 +0000

Hospital staff are to be specially trained to deal with obese patients.

Southend and Basildon hospitals are working together to ensure all emergency staff are more clued up and adept at handling patients who weigh more than 20 stones.

Read full article:Echo

PTSD Survey

Editor — Sun, 03 May 2009 07:36:54 +0000

ParamedicUK recently received an email from Tim at Beyond the Frontline. (http://beyondthefrontline.com)

“Hi,

I am a member of the three 9 services and I have spent the last year suffering from PTSD. It has been directly attributed to the work I carried out for the emergency services.

As I get better I can see that it is important for me to start action that will protect other members of the public services.

I have built a website that is live but currently un advertised but the main purpose of my plight is to form a pressure group forcing better care for the front line workers in the emergency services.

I am currently in the final stages of gaining charity status and as soon as I can fund raise things will really take off!

The reason I am contacting you is this, I am looking for members of the emergency services to take part in a short email survey.

The survey will be anonymous and should only take about 10 minutes to complete.

It would be a massive help if you could mention this on your website and ask anyone willing to take part to email Info@beyondthefrontline.com

Thank you so much for your time

Kind regards

Tim”

Hydrogen Sulfide Post – An apology to The EMS Spot

Editor — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:33:32 +0000

ParamedicUK recently posted an item about hydrogen sulfide suicides and the potential dangers of this substance to emergency service workers. This item was copied, without permission, from The EMS Spot (http://www.theemtspot.com).

I would like to apologies to Steve Whitehead the lead author at The EMS Spot for the use of his work.

Clearly, the hydrogen sulfide issue is of great importance to the safety of ambulance staff and recommend that you visit The EMS Spot to read the article and all the other excellent material to be found there.