Paramedical Workers Research Articles

Sleep, dietary intake and physical activity changes with onset of shift work in intern paramedics

Paramedic work is associated with high staff turn-over, insufficient sleep and adverse health outcomes. Our understanding of the relationship between paramedic work and the health behaviours that may precede adverse health outcomes is limited, as few longitudinal studies have examined health behaviours in workers before they commence on the road work. Such research is needed to inform evidence-based recommendations specifically for new paramedics. The current observational cohort study examined self-reported sleep, dietary intake and physical activity in 21 intern paramedics: 15 female and 6 male (median age: 23.0 years [interquartile range (IQR): 4.0]) from an Australian ambulance service. A subset of participants ( n = 16) provided fasting blood samples for cardiometabolic markers (cholesterol, triglycerides and fasting glucose). Data were collected quarterly (pre-shift work, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months post commencement). Linear mixed models showed that the first 12 months of shift work were associated with poorer sleep quality ( p = .036), consumption of fewer kilojoules ( p = .026), reduced saturated fat consumption ( p = .005) and lower sodium ( p = .043) and sugar ( p = .038) intake. There were significant increases in leisure time physical activity ( p = .008). This study shows negative changes in sleep quality and improvements in diet and leisure time physical activity during the first 12 months of paramedic work. Individual differences observed in this study, and ongoing suboptimal dietary intake, highlight a need for larger studies with more participants and a focus on personalised strategies for new recruit paramedics.

Effects of Concurrent Training on Resuscitation and Cognitive Performance in Paramedics-A Pilot Study.

Paramedics work under physically and cognitively demanding conditions to provide emergency care. As physical fitness could positively impact the quality of patient care, we investigated within a pilot study whether concurrent training (CT) affects work-related performance parameters in paramedics. At baseline (T1), 16 paramedics performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation whereby resuscitation performance (RP; total resuscitation quality, compressions with correct frequency, and correct ventilation), cognitive performance (CP; reaction time, divided attention, and working memory), and heart rate variability (HRV) were assessed (pre-exertion). Then, participants climbed seven floors carrying 20 kg of gear before completing the same assessments again (post-exertion). The baseline testing was followed by a CT intervention (12 weeks, three sessions/week). After the intervention (T2), the two-stage testing was repeated. We analyzed whether the pre-exertion and post-exertion values, as well as the difference between the pre-exertion and post-exertion values, changed from T1 to T2. Nine paramedics (male: N = 7; age = 26.3 (SD = 8.17) years) took part in the study. The comparison of the pre-exertion values showed significantly better reaction times (p = 0.001) and divided attention (p = 0.02) and a trend toward greater working memory and RP parameters at T2. Regarding the post-exertion values, significant improvements in working memory (p = 0.03) and a trend toward improved reaction time, divided attention, and RP occurred at T2. The difference between the pre- and post-exertion values did not change for any parameter from T1 to T2. HRV decreased significantly from pre- to post-exertion (T1: p = 0.01, T2: p = 0.01). These results indicate that CT is a promising training concept to improve RP and CP in paramedics and should therefore be investigated further to increase patient care quality.

ASSESSMENT OF NEWBORN PAIN RELATED TO CARE

Pain in newborns is an issue we cannot ignore any longer. The health care providers should confirm that the baby is comfortable during any procedures as it is not only that it is ethically right for them to treat in pain the patients but can also have serious after-effects in newborns and can also lead to other diseases. This study aimed to evaluate pain induced by medical procedures, describe pain management practices, and improve pain management. Two surveys were conducted: the first one on the patients through the prospective descriptive observational study. This was carried out in the NICU in the department of neonatology in the CHU MOHAMED VI of Oujda over a period of 4 months, starting from February 26, 2024 until June 26, 2024. Pain was assessed by using the DAN scale in 98 newborns (female: 56%, sex ratio: 1.27, premature: 42%, and mean weight: 2538g). The median DAN score duringmedical procedures was 4.5, which dropped to 1 three minutes after the painful procedure. The second survey was conducted among a sample of 45 medical and paramedical workers of the neonatology department of the CHU MOHAMED VI Oujda. Eighteen percent of the medical and paramedical staff indicated that they had taken specific training in pain and palliative care. A specific training session was organized for enhancing pain management. Before the training, 44% of caregivers had never assessed the pain level of their patient whereas after the training 78% of them will always assess the pain, this improved significantly post training. Regarding pain management, before training, it was not done routinely, fifty-eight percent of caregivers reported that they rarely or never used any preventive strategies, whereas after training, 84% reported always or often using preventive measures. The majority of caregivers were against the presence of parents during invasive procedures.

A Guided Comparative Analysis of Fatigue Frameworks in Australasian Ambulance Services

Objective Paramedics work in a complex, unpredictable environment, subject to many external stressors including critically unwell patients, dangerous driving conditions, and prolonged shift work. Paramedic fatigue from these and other occupational demands is well documented. Ambulance services attempt to safeguard paramedics from fatigue using internal policies or procedures – a type of Fatigue Risk Management Systems (FRMSs). This study reviews ambulance service fatigue frameworks to understand the current situation in fatigue management in paramedicine, and to identify fatigue monitoring tools, strategies, and other components of these frameworks that are designed to protect personnel. Methods This study involved a qualitative document thematic content analysis. All eleven statutory ambulance services across Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea, represented by the Council of Ambulance Authorities, were contacted and invited to participate. Fatigue frameworks were collated and entered into NVivo where data extraction occurred through three a priori areas (fatigue, fatigue mitigation tools & fatigue management). Results Nine of the eleven ambulance services provided fatigue documentation, with one declining to participate, and one did not respond to invitations. Through thematic analysis and abstraction, seven themes were identified: fatigue definition, consequences of fatigue, sources of fatigue, signs and symptoms of fatigue, fatigue-related incidents, fatigue monitoring tools, and fatigue mitigation. There was also poor alignment between provided frameworks and established FRMSs components. Conclusion Our findings provide an initial insight into existing ambulance service fatigue frameworks across Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea. The many inconsistencies in frameworks between ambulance services highlight an opportunity to develop a more consistent, collaborative approach that follows evidence-based FRMSs guidelines.

Quantifying Threat or Challenge Response of Undergraduate Paramedicine Students During High-Stress Clinical Scenarios

Paramedic work can be stressful. Encountering clinically unwell patients, long shift hours and dealing with the unknown expose paramedics to mental, physical and emotional stress. In the learning environment, these types of stresses are difficult for educators to replicate. Traditionally, students have been tested under pressure in scenario-based situations as a means of stress inoculation. However, the literature is unclear as to whether this enhances or hinders learning. A recent scoping review identified an acceptable level of stress during simulation can be beneficial, although a level of a balance is required. Too much stress can hinder learning and lead to underperformance. Ideally, high-acuity patient scenarios should be designed to invoke a challenging state of appraisal in the student to support both their learning and knowledge retention. To obtain an understanding of how students appraise these types of scenarios, quantitative physiological and psychometric data needs to be obtained and analyzed. However, across the health care education literature, inconsistent methodologies and a variety of physiological and cognitive measures make it challenging to draw firm conclusions. This narrative review searched three prominent databases using common search terms to produce a subset of high-quality publications that we thought were most pertinent and insightful. Our paper establishes recommendations for appropriate physiological assessment and interpterion of challenge appraisal in students undertaking high-stress, low-frequency clinical scenarios.

Towards an understanding of the embedded nature of everyday ethical reasoning in paramedic education and practice

Paramedicine is increasingly complex in affective, behavioural, and cognitive domains of practice. The ability to navigate this complexity is essential for paramedics who are required to simultaneously practice assertively, dynamically, sensitively, and professionally. Although these may seem to be superficially incongruent ways of practising, through insightful and reflexive practice underpinned by appropriate ethical approaches, paramedics can navigate the complexity inherent in paramedic work whether care episodes are routine or extreme. In what follows, we discuss the potential of virtue ethics as a way of navigating complexity in paramedic practice and preparing clinicians for the varied work they manage as paramedics. We do this by first describing some of the issues faced by the modern paramedic, outlining ethical approaches to practice, then working through a vignette showing how a deeper understanding of ethics and utilising a virtue ethics approach may have helped the clinicians navigate a typical ethical dilemma found in practice.

Prevalence and correlates of mental health problems among different occupations of medical workers during COVID-19 outbreak in China.

Health workers involved in the fight to prevent the COVID-19 outbreak were exposed to hazards. Detailed information on mental health problems in different medical occupations is crucial. To examined the prevalence of mental health issues in three medical occupations as well as the relationships between mental health problems and correlates in each occupation. This study utilizing the Questionnaire Star program was conducted among medical workers working at medical institutions in China from February 17 to 24, 2020. The Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20), the Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and the Zung Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) were used to assess mental health problems. The prevalence of any mental health problems in the three occupations was 43.6, 34.6, and 32.9% for nurses, paramedical workers (PMWs), and doctors, respectively. Three occupations shared some correlates, such as being overworked, not having enough time to rest, support from colleagues, and previous mental health status. There were specific factors for each occupation. For doctors, age, educational level, living status, support from family, and previous physical status were related factors in mental health problems. Working in a designated hospital for treating COVID-19, having COVID-19 event exposures, and receiving support from family were associated with the mental health problems of the nurses. PMWs' mental health problems was linked to educational level and care from supervisors or heads of department. Different medical occupations have distinct impacts on mental health issues. Policy makers and mental health professionals working to prepare for potential disease outbreaks should be aware of multiple factors in different occupations.

A post-COVID-19 assessment of resilience of nurses and paramedical workers in municipal hospitals of urban Pune, India.

To assess the resilience of primary healthcare workers (HCWs) by determining the factors associated with developing resilience post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A cross-sectional study in selected municipal hospitals. Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale was used to assess the resilience of the 245 HCWs, including the nurses and paramedics working in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) hospitals in Pune City. Data were analysed using the Chi-square test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), independent-samples t-test and correlational analysis using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 28. The mean resilience score of the HCWs in PMC hospitals post-COVID-19 was 75.09 (±9.25). The score for hardiness, optimism, resourcefulness and purpose was 20.15 (±3.87), 21.22 (±3.39), 17.24 (±2.76) and 16.40 (±2.17), respectively. Seven factors were significantly associated with the resilience of nurses and paramedics, namely age (P < 0.001), work experience (P < 0.001), monthly income (P < 0.001), having faced financial problems during COVID-19 (P < 0.001), hospital setting (P < 0.05), marital status (P < 0.01) and professional category (P < 0.001). In addition, 60% of the participants reported mental health issues due to routine workloads such as irritation/anger, frustration and tension/worry, fatigue and work-related stress, and sadness and anxiety. Suggestions for improvement were mainly increasing human resources, proper management, skilled staff, improved facilities and funding, and cooperation among staff. The resilience of primary HCWs in Pune post-COVID-19 was higher than HCWs in other countries assessed during COVID-19. Further, resilience was found more among nurses than paramedics. Modifiable factors affecting resilience must be addressed to improve the resilience of HCWs to build everyday resilience and strengthen health systems for public health emergencies.

New paramedic scope of practice in Poland based on the 2022 reform

Emergency medical systems in the world are mainly based on two main models: the Franco-German System (FGS) and the Anglo-American System (AAS). The characteristic feature of the FGS is the "Stay and Play" principle, while the AAS system is based on the "Scoop and Run” principle. The Polish model is a mix of those two systems mainly based on the work of paramedics. Their scope of operations and powers have changed over time. As a result of the advocacy undertaken by paramedics in Poland, legislation was drafted and became law in June 2023. The central changes include: the introduction of a paramedic register, the establishment of a professional self-government of paramedics, the expansion of professional competencies such as the ability to declare death, and new opportunities for professional development including speciality training or paid training leave. This article discusses the new law in the context of previous legislative solutions in the field of emergency medicine in Poland and in other European countries.

(Un)ergonomic working conditions for a paramedic in a medical ambulance

The work of a paramedic, is characterised by a high risk of injury. Ergonomic, psychological, and biomechanical factors are considered risk factors in the profession of emergency medical technicians. Ensuring ergonomic working conditions for emergency medical technicians is a priority and requires a thorough assessment both in the design process and during the operation of the ambulance, to provide a diagnosis of the current state and present necessary recommendations for modernization. Identifying stressors will enable the design of an ergonomic interior for the ambulance, ensuring comfort and reliability for members of the emergency medical team, thereby reducing the risk of injuries. The authors of this article developed a comprehensive methodology for assessing the nuisances occurring during the paramedic's work, which required specialised preliminary research. The research included the measurement and analysis of the paramedic's movement kinematics during typical medical procedures, both at a standstill and while driving the ambulance. For the analysis of motion kinematics, a non-invasive method called myoMotion was employed, and the study was conducted in a Mercedes ambulance. This article contains preliminary results on the evaluation of movement kinematics. These demonstrated the necessity for the paramedic to adopt forced positions when performing medical procedures. The ranges of movement of the individual body parts of the paramedic deviated from accepted norms, resulting in musculoskeletal overload. The acquired knowledge forms the basis for a detailed analysis of tasks performed within each procedure from the perspective of the spatial structure of the ambulance, the arrangement of equipment and medical supplies, their accessibility during work, and the organization of work within the ambulance. Additional identification of musculoskeletal system stress, its sources, and the formulation of modification recommendations for the ambulance interior will enable ensuring the comfort and reliability of the work for emergency medical teams, thereby reducing the risk of injuries in the workplace. Med Pr Work Health Saf. 2024;75(1):31-44.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Healthcare Workers: Perspective from the Nursing Fraternity

The novel coronavirus or SARS-COVID-19 has been declared a Pandemic by the WHO due to its high transmission rate and mortality rate. This has put a huge strain on healthcare workers such as doctors, nurses, and other paramedical workers. We surveyed twenty-six nurses from varying nursing professions in West Bengal to identify their level of stress and emotional status associated with the outbreak of the disease. The survey questionnaire was designed using the Health Belief Model from Rosenstock et. al. Results showed significant changes in health belief constructs of perceived susceptibility, perceived beliefs, and perceived severity to the COVID-19 crisis among nurses across different demographics. Thus, there is a need to adapt screening strategies to address the psychological aspects of healthcare workers to avert any future crisis. Keywords: COVID-19, nursing, health, Health Belief Model

Knowledge Landscape and Trend Analysis of Project-Based Impact of Occupational Stress and Job Burnout on Turnover Intentions in Context of Paramedical Workers in Gujarat India

Knowledge Landscape and Trend Analysis of Project-Based Impact of Occupational Stress and Job Burnout on Turnover Intentions in Context of Paramedical Workers in Gujarat India

Understanding paramedic work in general practice in the UK: a rapid realist synthesis

BackgroundGeneral practice in the UK is under substantial pressure and practices are increasingly including paramedics as part of their workforce. Little is known about how different models of paramedic working may affect successful implementation of the role, as viewed from patient, clinician and system perspectives. This realist synthesis developed theories about ‘models of paramedic working in general practice’ in different UK contexts to understand their impact.MethodsThe rapid realist synthesis comprised data from: (1) empirical and grey literature searches; (2) semi-structured realist interviews with system leaders involved with the implementation of the role; and (3) a stakeholder event with healthcare professionals and the public, to develop initial programme theories that can be tested in future work. Sources were analysed using a realist approach that explored the data for novel or causal insights to generate initial programme theories.ResultsEmpirical sources (n = 32), grey sources (n = 95), transcripts from system leader interviews (n = 7) and audio summaries from the stakeholder event (n = 22 participants) were synthesised into a single narrative document. The findings confirmed the presence of a wide variety of models of paramedic working in UK general practice. The perceived success of models was influenced by the extent to which the paramedic service was mature and embedded in practice, and according to four theory areas: (1) Primary care staff understanding and acceptance of the paramedic role; (2) Paramedic induction process, including access to training, supervision and development opportunities; (3) Patient understanding and acceptance of the role; (4) Variations in paramedic employment models.ConclusionsVariability in how the paramedic role is operating and embedding into general practice across the UK affects the success of the role. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for future research to investigate various ‘models of paramedic working’ in different contexts.

Rethinking paramedic occupational injury surveillance: A systems approach to better understanding paramedic work-related injury

Paramedic work occurs in complex, dynamic, uncontrolled, and unpredictable work environments which increase their risk of occupational injury. The complex and multi-factorial nature of paramedic occupational injury requires a holistic systems-based approach to identify and understand contributory factors of paramedic occupational injury. Systems thinking methods are useful for understanding and responding to complex issues, however these have never been applied to the surveillance of paramedic injuries. Through a narrative review of the paramedic occupational injury literature, this paper aims to establish the currently known contributors of paramedic injury, examine the extent to which a systems thinking approach has been applied in this context, and outline how these could be integrated into current paramedic injury surveillance systems. A search of Ovid Medline between the years 2004–2021. In total, 120 literature works were used to develop the systems maps and models presented in this paper. These included: a social-ecological model; an ActorMap; an AcciMap; and a PreventiMap. The findings illustrate the complexity and diversity of the factors contributing to the occurrence of paramedic injury at work. However, systems thinking-based approaches like those presented in this paper are not a substitute for the traditional epidemiological approach to injury surveillance, rather these approaches should be incorporated together to improve risk and protective factor identification, facilitating the development and implementation of targeted interventions.

A comparison of cardiopulmonary endurance, fatigue level, and life satisfaction among paramedical married working women and housewives

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Physical fitness is the ability to perform everyday work with enthusiasm and alertness, without undue exhaustion, and with the energy to enjoy leisure activities and respond to unforeseen situations. Working as an employee and in-house requires both physical as well mental health to accomplish daily tasks, therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate cardiopulmonary endurance, fatigue level, and life satisfaction among paramedical married working women and housewives. METHODOLOGY: Sixty-four women (32 paramedical married working women and 32 housewives) were recruited as per inclusion criteria. Outcome measures were 6-min walk test, Chalder Fatigue Scale, and satisfaction of life scale, performed to evaluate cardiopulmonary endurance, fatigue level, and life satisfaction, respectively. RESULTS: Unpaired t-test was performed to evaluate the significance in primary outcomes. Cardiorespiratory endurance was statistically significant in paramedical working women (P = 0.001), but no significance of difference in fatigue level (P = 0.455) and life satisfaction (0.6625) in both groups. CONCLUSION: Although there is a statistical difference in cardiorespiratory endurance, working women are fully satisfied with their jobs as well as handling the responsibility of home and housewives are happy with working at house and managing family responsibilities without undue fatigue.

Role of Emotional Intelligence in Stress Management of Healthcare Professionals - Literature Review

Emotional intelligence is the ability of an individual to understand one’s own emotions and that of others and use them in the right way to guide one’s actions and thinking. The healthcare sector is one of the largest employing sectors that poses high demanding needs to the professionals like long working hours, emotional demands, patient demands and expectations which in turn causes a stressful work environment. To manage both the occupational and personal stressors these noble professionals need to adapt strategies and interventions. This paper is an attempt to identify the role of emotional intelligence in the stress management practices of the healthcare professionals like doctors, nurses, paramedical workers, technicians, etc. Goals and aims: The main objective of the study is to understand the role of emotional intelligence in different sectors specifically emphasise its role in managing stress levels of healthcare employees and suggest interventions and strategies for stress management. Methodology: A comprehensive review-based study to discover the role of emotional intelligence in the stress management practices of healthcare employees is attempted across different countries. Results: The integrative reviews pointed out that employees with higher emotional intelligence levels experienced less stress in their work and exhibited better performance in their work in various sectors including the healthcare industry. It is evident that emotional intelligence can act as an influencer to lessen the stress levels of employees. Conclusion: The study identifies the need for developing emotional competencies like an individual’s emotional awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills to produce visible results in enhancing the employees' productivity, quality of work life, job satisfaction, reduced stress levels, empathy, better communication and decision-making skills in achieving both individual and professional growth.

Blockchain-Aided Privacy-Preserving Medical Data Sharing Scheme for E-Healthcare System

Due to the massive applications of Internet of Things (IoT) and the prevalence of wearable devices, e-healthcare systems are widely deployed in medical institutions. As a significant carrier of medical data, electronic medical record (EMR) is convenient to be stored and retrieved, which greatly simplifies the experience of medical treatment and cuts down the trivial work of paramedics. However, EMRs usually include much sensitive information such as patients’ identification numbers or home addresses that may be easily captured by unauthorized doctors and cloud servers. Based on this concern, e-healthcare systems can make use of attribute-based encryption (ABE) to protect private information while achieving fine-grained access control of encrypted EMRs. Whereas, most ABE schemes do not support both policy hiding and keyword search. To address the above issues, we propose an inner product searchable encryption scheme with multi-keyword search (MK-IPSE) based on blockchain to provide full privacy preservation and efficient ciphertext retrieval for EMRs. Inner product encryption (IPE) can not only specify access permissions such that only users with matched attributes can get the target files, but also support access policy hiding. Besides, the proposed scheme combines searchable encryption (SE) and federated blockchain (FB) to implement efficient and stable multi-keyword search. Compared with the existing schemes, MK-IPSE shows better performance on computation and storage. Additionally, security analysis demonstrates that our scheme can resist IND-CKA and collusion attacks.

Perception and practices on COVID-19 vaccination and booster dose acceptability among health-care workers - A questionnaire-based study.

To assess the perception and practices on COVID-19 vaccination and to determine the predictors of booster dose acceptability among health-care workers (HCWs) in South India. We conducted an anonymous cross-sectional survey on the perception and practices on COVID-19 vaccination and booster dose acceptability among the HCWs in South India. We prepared an online self-administered validated questionnaire, and the Google form link to it was circulated from March 28, 2022 to April 27, 2022, in the social media groups of the HCWs. We used binary logistic regression to identify the predictors of booster dose acceptability among HCWs. Overall, we obtained 572 valid responses, of which the majority were from paramedical workers compared to doctors. Most of the respondents were unmarried females aged <30 years. Around 31.6% had been previously diagnosed with COVID-19. About 97.9%, 88.8%, and 12.6% of the participants have taken the first, second, and booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, respectively. Among the respondents, 19.7% refused to take the booster dose. The main reason for booster dose refusal is the belief that two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are sufficient to confer disease protection. Believing vaccination to be one of the most effective measures in COVID-19 prevention and being doctors by profession were the chief predictors of booster dose acceptance among HCWs. While the uptake of the primary COVID-19 vaccination series was commendable among Indian HCWs, booster dose was taken only by a minority of them.

A study on knowledge, attitude, and practice about eye donation among medical students and healthcare professionals at a tertiary hospital in Eastern India.

To assess and analyze the rate of knowledge, attitude, and practice patterns about eye donation among medical and healthcare professionals in a tertiary care hospital in eastern India. This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study conducted on medical students, resident doctors, and nursing and paramedical staff at a tertiary institute in the year 2020. A pretested, structured questionnaire consisting of 28 questions in the three subsections based on knowledge and awareness, attitudes and beliefs, and practice patterns mainly willingness to donate eyes by pledging, was noted. All the responses were individually scored, and the total scores were calculated. Univariate analysis was done to find out the factors that had a positive or negative influence on the knowledge and willingness about eye donation. Around 270 participants responded to this survey. The majority of the respondents (206, 76.3%) were below 30 years and 64.4% were males. Awareness about eye donation was 95.6% but a willingness to pledge was observed in 51.5% of participants. The total practice score was lower among nonmedicos compared with medicos (3.33 ± 1.22 vs 3.74 ± 0.64), (P < 0.001). On univariate analysis, the Crude Odds Ratio with a 95% confidence interval was 25.787 (5.18-128.33) in the occupational category (P < 0.001). The study reported an adequate knowledge level among doctors and healthcare workers. The practice pattern among the nursing staff and paramedical workers needs to be improved as they can play a pivotal role in strengthening the hospital corneal retrieval program. They can also be the key messengers during public awareness campaigns for eye donations in our country.

Quantifying how functional and structural personal factors influence biomechanical exposures in paramedic lifting tasks

It is unknown how structural (sex, stature, body mass) and functional (strength, flexibility) personal factors influence lifting strategy in paramedic work. We explored whether variance in peak low back forces and kinematic coordination patterns could be explained by structural and functional personal factors in paramedic lifting tasks. Seventy-two participants performed backboard and stretcher lifts. Peak low back forces normalised to body mass, as well as kinematic coordination patterns, were calculated as dependent variables. Being female, stronger, shorter, having higher body mass, and/or having greater lower body range of motion (ROM) were all independently associated with lower normalised low back forces across backboard and stretcher lifting. Females and stronger individuals seemed to define a movement objective to consistently minimise compressive forces, while individuals with greater hip ROM consistently minimised anteroposterior shear forces. The efficacy of improving strength and hip ROM to reduce low back forces in paramedic lifting should be investigated. Practitioner summary: Females, stronger individuals, and individuals with greater hip range of motion consistently exhibited lower normalised low back forces in paramedic lifting. Improving strength and hip range of motion via training is a potential proactive ergonomics approach to reduce peak low back forces in paramedic lifting tasks.