Volume 200 - Issue 9
Occupational injury risk among Australian paramedics: an analysis of national data
Authors: Brian J Maguire, Peter F O’Meara, Richard F Brightwell, Barbara J O’Neill and Gerard J Fitzgerald
Med J Aust 2014; 200 (9): 520. || doi: 10.5694/mja14.10941
Published online: 19 May 2014
Published online: 19 May 2014
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Correction
Referencing and data errors: In “Occupational injury risk among Australian paramedics: an analysis of national data” in the 5 May 2014 issue of the Journal (Med J Aust 2014; 200: 477-480), there were referencing and data errors.
The second paragraph on page 477 should begin “In 2007,” and, in the reference list on page 479, reference 6 should read: “Safe Work Australia. Compendium of workers' compensation statistics Australia 2004-05. 2007. http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/SWA/about/Publications/Documents/423/Compendium_Workers_Compensation_Statistics_Australia_2004_05.pdf (accessed May 2013).” All subsequent citations of reference 6 (“6”) in the article should be reference 24 (“24”) and, on page 480, the reference list should include reference 24: “Safe Work Australia. Compendium of workers' compensation statistics Australia 2010-11. 2013. http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/swa/about/publications/pages/compendium-2010-11 (accessed May 2013).”
On page 479, the first paragraph should read: “Compared with the national average of 1.6 fatalities per 100 000 workers per year, the rate for paramedics was 9.3 per 100 000 (relative risk, 5.8 [95% CI, 2.9–11.6]). Safe Work Australia notes that the industry division with the highest rate is agriculture, forestry and fishing (9.1 per 100 000 workers), and that the occupation group with the highest rate is intermediate production and transport workers (6.0 per 100 000 workers).24 For fatal vehicle accidents, the rate for paramedics is 5.8 per 100 000 workers (relative risk, 11.6 [95% CI, 4.8–27.9]), compared with the national average of 0.5 per 100 000 for all workers.24” On page 477, in the Abstract, the second sentence of Results should read: “The fatality rate for paramedics was about six times higher than the national average.”
The first sentence of the third paragraph on page 477 should read: “High rates have also been found in the United States, where Maguire identified a rate of occupational fatalities among paramedics of 12.7 per 100 000 workers per year.” The third sentence of that paragraph should read: “The rate of non-fatal injuries among US paramedics was 34.6 per 100 full-time workers per year, a rate more than five times higher than the national average for all workers.”