Descriptive statistics of all injuries reported from 2005 to 2013, comparing PFD firefighters with paramedics
| Total | Firefighter | Paramedic | p Value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | Per cent/range* | N | Per cent/range* | N | Per cent/range* | ||
| Total | 2372 | 100.0% | 1916 | 80.8% | 456 | 19.2% | |
| Race | 0.001† | ||||||
| White | 1514 | 63.9% | 1212 | 63.3% | 302 | 66.5% | |
| Black | 700 | 29.5% | 567 | 29.6% | 133 | 29.3% | |
| Hispanic | 142 | 6.0% | 129 | 6.7% | 13 | 2.9% | |
| Asian Pacific Islander, American Indian, Alaskan Native | 13 | 0.5% | 7 | 0.4% | 6 | 1.3% | |
| Sex | <0.001† | ||||||
| Male | 2082 | 87.8% | 1820 | 95.0% | 262 | 57.5% | |
| Female | 290 | 12.2% | 96 | 5.0% | 194 | 42.5% | |
| Light duty | 0.005† | ||||||
| Yes | 833 | 35.1% | 647 | 33.8% | 186 | 40.8% | |
| No | 1539 | 64.9% | 1269 | 66.2% | 270 | 59.2% | |
| Lost time | 0.026† | ||||||
| Yes | 599 | 25.5% | 466 | 24.5% | 133 | 29.6% | |
| No | 1749 | 74.5% | 1433 | 75.5% | 316 | 70.4% | |
| Injury occurred on a response | 0.496† | ||||||
| Yes | 1479 | 62.4% | 1201 | 62.7% | 278 | 61.0% | |
| No | 893 | 37.6% | 715 | 37.3% | 178 | 39.0% | |
| Cause of injury | <0.001† | ||||||
| Strain or injury by | 645 | 27.2% | 477 | 24.9% | 168 | 36.8% | |
| Fall, slip or trip injury | 402 | 16.9% | 345 | 18.0% | 57 | 12.5% | |
| Burn or scald-heat or cold exposures | 381 | 16.1% | 379 | 19.8% | 2 | 0.4% | |
| Struck or injured by | 301 | 12.7% | 211 | 11.0% | 90 | 19.7% | |
| Miscellaneous causes | 284 | 12.0% | 219 | 11.4% | 65 | 14.3% | |
| Cut, puncture, scrape injured by | 106 | 4.5% | 99 | 5.2% | 7 | 1.5% | |
| Motor vehicle | 99 | 4.2% | 63 | 3.3% | 36 | 7.9% | |
| Striking against or stepping on | 83 | 3.5% | 65 | 3.4% | 18 | 3.9% | |
| Caught in, under or between | 71 | 3.0% | 58 | 3.0% | 13 | 2.9% | |
| Nature of injury | <0.001‡ | ||||||
| Strain or tear | 551 | 23.2% | 380 | 19.8% | 171 | 37.5% | |
| Contusion | 436 | 18.4% | 335 | 17.5% | 101 | 22.1% | |
| Sprain or tear | 320 | 13.5% | 257 | 13.4% | 63 | 13.8% | |
| Burn | 296 | 12.5% | 295 | 15.4% | 1 | 0.2% | |
| All other injuries | 255 | 10.8% | 203 | 10.6% | 52 | 11.4% | |
| Laceration | 214 | 9.0% | 186 | 9.7% | 28 | 6.1% | |
| Foreign body | 63 | 2.7% | 56 | 2.9% | 7 | 1.5% | |
| Fracture | 50 | 2.1% | 44 | 2.3% | 6 | 1.3% | |
| Heat prostration | 45 | 1.9% | 45 | 2.3% | 0 | 0.0% | |
| Poisoning–general (not OD or cumulative) | 35 | 1.5% | 29 | 1.5% | 6 | 1.3% | |
| Hearing loss or impairment | 24 | 1.0% | 24 | 1.3% | 0 | 0.0% | |
| Puncture | 24 | 1.0% | 19 | 1.0% | 5 | 1.1% | |
| Contagious disease | 23 | 1.0% | 10 | 0.5% | 13 | 2.9% | |
| Electric shock | 19 | 0.8% | 19 | 1.0% | 0 | 0.0% | |
| Crushing | 17 | 0.7% | 14 | 0.7% | 3 | 0.7% | |
| Age at injury | <0.001§ | ||||||
| Mean (range) | 40.4 | 19–66 | 41.0 | (19–66) | 37.9 | (22–63) | |
| Years of experience at injury | <0.001§ | ||||||
| Mean (range) | 11.3 | 0–40 | 11.9 | 0–40 | 8.5 | 0–36 | |
| Number of injuries to an individual | <0.001† | ||||||
| One injury | 795 | 33.5% | 705 | 36.8% | 90 | 19.7% | |
| Two injuries | 760 | 32.0% | 612 | 31.9% | 148 | 32.5% | |
| Three injuries | 393 | 16.6% | 321 | 16.8% | 72 | 15.8% | |
| More than three injuries | 424 | 17.9% | 278 | 14.5% | 146 | 32.0% | |
†p Values calculated as χ2 tests.
‡p Values calculated as Fisher's exact tests.
§p Values calculated as t-tests.
OD, overdose; PFD, Philadelphia Fire Department.