Anthropometric Database for the EMTs in the United States

Deaths or serious injuries among emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and other ambulance occupants occur at a high rate during transport. According to a study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), EMTs and paramedics have higher fatality rates when compared to all workers, with forty-five percent of EMT deaths resulting from highway incidents, primarily due to vehicle collisions.1 Data from the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration showed that among the persons killed in crashes involving an ambulance between 1992 and 2011, twenty one percent were EMTs and patients, while four percent were ambulance drivers.2 To reduce injury potential to the EMTs and other ambulance occupants, NIOSH, the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. General Services Administration, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, along with private industry partners, have committed to improving the workspace design of ambulance patient compartments for safe and effective perfo