Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine emergency medical service (EMS) personnel’s perceptions and experiences of managing underground mining injury incidents.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 13 EMS personnel were interviewed according to a semi-structured interview guide. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using qualitative content analysis.FindingsAn underground mining environment was described as unfamiliar and unsafe and, with no guidelines for operational actions in an extreme environment, such as underground mines, the EMS personnel were uncertain of their role. They therefore became passive and relied on the rescue service and mining company during a major incident. However, the medical care was not considered to be different from any other prehospital care, although a mining environment would make the situation more difficult and it would take longer for the mine workers to be placed under definitive care.Originality/valueThis study complements earlier studies by examining the EMS personnel’s perceptions and experiences of major incidents.
Highlights
The overall trend is that incidents are decreasing in the mining industry, incidents with varying degrees of severity still occur (Shooks et al, 2014)
Operating in an unfamiliar environment is characterized by adopting a passive role in the rescue team because of uncontrolled and unsafe conditions The theme that emerged from the respondents’ descriptions of their perceptions and experiences of major incidents in underground mines was that they had been dispatched to an unfamiliar environment, which led them to adopt a passive role in the rescue team because of uncontrolled and unsafe conditions
The emergency medical service (EMS) personnel in the present study described a passiveness in making decisions in a mining environment, situations in which they handed over responsibility to the rescue service or the mining company
Summary
The overall trend is that incidents are decreasing in the mining industry, incidents with varying degrees of severity still occur (Shooks et al, 2014). In Sweden, there are about 100 mining incidents per year that result in injuries in which mine workers take sick leave for at least one day. Of these incidents, around 14 are considered serious, resulting in death, invalidity or more than 30 days’ sick leave. Major incidents in mineral and metalliferous mines tend to be related to traffic incidents, fires and rockfalls (Engström et al, 2018). This will be of consequence to the rescue team, i.e. the rescue service and emergency medical service (EMS). Research literature from a medical perspective in major underground mining incidents is scarce (Engström et al, 2018), which can be of consequence to the preparedness of the EMS for mining incidents
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