@article{ref1,
title="Female firefighter work-related injuries in the United States and Canada: an overview of survey responses",
journal="Frontiers in public health",
year="2022",
author="Pawer, Samantha and Turcotte, Kate and Desapriya, Ediriweera and Zheng, Alex and Purewal, Amanat and Wellar, Alyssa and Kunz, Kenneth and Garis, Len and Thomas, Larry S. and Pike, Ian",
volume="10",
number="",
pages="e861762-e861762",
abstract="OBJECTIVES: This study explored how demographic characteristics, life experiences, and firefighting experiences have an impact on work-related injuries among female firefighters, and described events surrounding such work-related injuries. <br><br>METHODS: This online survey was available from June 2019 to July 2020. Questions related to demographic characteristics, life experiences, firefighting experiences, and work-related injuries. Descriptive analyses characterized variables by the presence or absence of work-related injury, injury severity, job assignment, and country of residence. <br><br>RESULTS: There were 1,160 active female firefighter survey respondents from the US and Canada, 64% of whom reported having at least one work-related injury. US respondents made up 67% of the total but 75% of the injured sample. Injured respondents were older, had been in the fire service longer, and had a greater number of fires and toxic exposures than non-injured respondents. Heavier weight, tobacco use, and alcohol consumption were more common among injured respondents. The two most common contributing factors to work-related injuries were human error and firefighter fatigue. Among respondents who reported an injury-related time loss claim, 69% were wearing protective equipment when injured, and 9% of the injuries directly resulted in new policy implementation. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: These findings can help inform resource allocation, and development of new policies and safety protocols, to reduce the number of work-related injuries among female firefighters.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="2296-2565",
doi="10.3389/fpubh.2022.861762",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.861762"
}