top of page
Search

Injury Prevention in Public Safety


ree

Public Safety careers can be considered dangerous and physically demanding. Let’s dive into the research that has been conducted on common injuries and injury prevention for both police officers and firefighters.


Firefighters


Most Common Injuries

  • Back

  • Shoulder

  • Neck

  • Knee


Injury Risk Factors

  • Obesity: Firefighters who are obese (BMI greater than 30) are 5.2 times more likely to experience a musculoskeletal injury than those in the normal weight category (BMI 18.5 to 24.9) according to Jahnke et al.

    • Obesity is linked to decreased core and back endurance in firefighters which could increase the risk of musculoskeletal injury (Mayer et al.)

  • One study in Canada recorded injuries from 2007 to 2011 within a large metropolitan fire department.

    • 62% of injuries were considered sprains or strains

    • 32% were back-related injuries, most commonly during lifting activities

    • Only 15% of injuries happened during fireground operations whereas 65% happened at the fire station or during physical training.

Injury Prevention

  • Firefighters who completed a core and back endurance program including cat camel, bird dog, curl-up, side bridge, and roman chair progression were able to demonstrate 12% greater back endurance and 21% greater core endurance than the control group which could help to reduce risk of injury (Mayer, Quillen et al).


Exercises as detailed below:




Police Officers


Most Common Injuries

  • Back

  • Shoulder


Injury Risk Factors

  • Gender does not play a role: Males and females were injured at about the same rate

  • Less job experience: those with fewer years of service were more likely to get injured. 8 years of service was the average time of service at the occurrence of injury.

  • Younger officers are more likely to get injured: In the general population, typically increased age is associated with increased injury. However, amongst police officers, increased age was not associated with a higher rate of injury. This could be due to changes in work-related duties between junior and senior police officers.

  • Research is mixed on the correlation between physical activity and musculoskeletal injuries

    • Some studies suggest that increased rates of self-reported physical training result in fewer musculoskeletal injuries

    • Other research suggests that those who engage in greater than 300 minutes of aerobic exercise have greater instances of musculoskeletal injuries.

Injury Prevention

  • One study suggests that a combination of age, gender, and maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max) was the best predictor of injury.

    • VO2 max: is the maximum rate of oxygen your body can use during exercise. The greater your VO2 max, the more oxygen your body can utilize and the more effectively your body can exercise.

  • Research suggests that those who are VERY inactive and those who are VERY active are at the greatest risk of injury. Therefore, completing a moderate amount of physical activity could be the safest opinion in order to maintain health but also to reduce the risk of injury.

  • Officers with the highest rates of reported physical activity in one study conducted with members of the Minneapolis Police Department were about a THIRD LESS likely to report back pain and LESS THAN HALF as likely to report chronic pain.

  • The same study also found that officers with a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 35 were 3 times more likely to report back pain than those with a BMI of 18-25.

    • BMI or Body Mass Index is a measure of body size based on height and weight



References

Lentz L, Voaklander D, Gross DP, Guptill CA, Senthilselvan A. A description of musculoskeletal injuries in a Canadian police service. International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health. 2020;33(1):59-66. doi:10.13075/ijomeh.1896.01454.


Lentz L, Randall JR, Guptill CA, Gross DP, Senthilselvan A, Voaklander D. The Association Between Fitness Test Scores and Musculoskeletal Injury in Police Officers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16(23):4667. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16234667


Nabeel I, Baker BA, McGrail MP Jr, Flottemesch TJ. Correlation between physical activity, fitness, and musculoskeletal injuries in police officers. Minn Med. 2007 Sep;90(9):40-3. PMID: 17966263.


Jahnke SA, Poston WS, Haddock CK, Jitnarin N. Obesity and incident injury among career firefighters in the central United States. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2013;21(8):1505-1508. doi:10.1002/oby.20436


Frost DM, Beach TA, Crosby I, McGill SM. Firefighter injuries are not just a fireground problem. Work. 2015;52(4):835-842. doi:10.3233/WOR-152111


Mayer JM, Quillen WS, Verna JL, Chen R, Lunseth P, Dagenais S. Impact of a supervised worksite exercise program on back and core muscular endurance in firefighters. Am J Health Promot. 2015;29(3):165-172. doi:10.4278/ajhp.130228-QUAN-89


Mayer JM, Nuzzo JL, Chen R, et al. The impact of obesity on back and core muscular endurance in firefighters. J Obes. 2012;2012:729283. doi:10.1155/2012/729283


Nazari G, MacDermid JC, Sinden K, D'Amico R. Prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms among Canadian firefighters. Work. 2020;67(1):185-191. doi:10.3233/WOR-203264



Comments

bottom of page