Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit, Monash University Accident Research Centre, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2024 Dec;97(10):1037-1049. doi: 10.1007/s00420-024-02103-w. Epub 2024 Nov 6.
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.
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.
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.
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.
本研究旨在利用工人赔偿（WC）数据，探讨极端丛林大火对急救人员（FR）与其他职业和淡季相比，受伤/疾病索赔率的影响。
从 WorkSafe Victoria 获得 2005 年至 2022 年 FR（急救人员、护理人员、消防员、警察）和其他职业的 WC 索赔数据。使用负二项回归模型，根据年龄、性别和就业人数进行调整，以估计 FR 在夏季和极端丛林大火期间与淡季/夏季和其他职业相比，所有伤害/疾病、精神、肌肉骨骼和呼吸道索赔的发生率比。
2005 年至 2022 年共有 120,022 项索赔；54%为肌肉骨骼损伤。与其他职业相比，FR 在淡季、夏季和极端丛林大火期间的所有伤害/疾病、精神、肌肉骨骼和呼吸道疾病的索赔率均明显较高。与其他职业相比，FR 在极端丛林大火期间因心理健康问题而索赔的可能性是淡季的 1.5-3.9 倍。与淡季相比，消防员在夏季和极端丛林大火期间因所有伤害/疾病和精神及肌肉骨骼受伤而索赔的风险更高。在夏季和极端丛林大火期间，急救人员和护理人员的所有伤害/疾病和精神索赔率最高，在淡季时，他们的所有伤害/疾病和精神索赔率最高。在极端丛林大火期间，警察和其他职业的呼吸道和精神索赔率增加。
极端丛林大火事件与所有 FR 的精神索赔率增加有关，其中消防员的精神索赔率最高。迫切需要制定战略来更好地预防和管理 FR 的受伤/疾病风险，特别是心理健康状况。
