Win Wah, Janneke Berecki-Gisolf, Deborah C Glass, Ryan F Hoy, Malcolm R Sim, Alex Collie, Karen Walker-Bone
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose: This study aimed to use workers' compensation (WC) data to explore the impact of the extreme bushfires on injury/disease claim rates amongst first responders (FR) compared with other occupations and off-seasons.
Methods: Data on WC claims for FR (ambulance officers, paramedics, firefighters, police) and other occupations were obtained from WorkSafe Victoria 2005-2022. Negative binomial regression models adjusting for age, gender and number of employed people were used to estimate incident rate ratios of all injury/disease, mental, musculoskeletal and respiratory claims among FR in summer and extreme bushfires compared to off-season/summer and other occupations.
Results: There were 120,022 claims in 2005-2022; 54% were musculoskeletal injuries. Claims rates were significantly higher for all injuries/diseases, mental, musculoskeletal and respiratory conditions in FR than other occupations across off-season, summers and extreme bushfires. FR were 1.5-3.9 times more likely to claim for mental health conditions during extreme bushfires than off-season compared with other occupations. Firefighters were at increased risk of all injury/disease and mental and musculoskeletal injury claims during summer and extreme bushfires than off-seasons. Ambulance officers and paramedics had the highest claim rates, particularly in off-seasons, with a higher risk of all injury/disease and mental claims in extreme bushfires than in summers. Respiratory and mental claims were increased amongst police and other occupations during extreme bushfires.
Conclusion: Extreme bushfire events were associated with increased mental claims rates in all FR, with the highest in firefighters. Strategies to better prevent and manage injury/disease risk in FR are urgently required, particularly for mental health conditions.
期刊介绍：
International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health publishes Editorials, Review Articles, Original Articles, and Letters to the Editor. It welcomes any manuscripts dealing with occupational or ambient environmental problems, with a special interest in research at the interface of occupational health and clinical medicine. The scope ranges from Biological Monitoring to Dermatology, from Fibers and Dust to Human Toxicology, from Nanomaterials and Ultra-fine Dust to Night- and Shift Work, from Psycho-mental Distress and Burnout to Vibrations. A complete list of topics can be found on the right-hand side under For authors and editors.
In addition, all papers should be based on present-day standards and relate to:
-Clinical and epidemiological studies on morbidity and mortality
-Clinical epidemiological studies on the parameters relevant to the estimation of health risks
-Human experimental studies on environmental health effects. Animal experiments are only acceptable if relevant to pathogenic aspects.
-Methods for studying the topics mentioned above.
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