Paramedics have most dangerous job in Australia, says professor
Published:13 November 2017
CQUniversity’s Adjunct Professor Brian Maguire has continued his research into violence against paramedics.
Aussie paramedics have the nation’s highest rate of occupational injury and fatality and assaults account for a large part of the risk.
That’s according to CQUniversity’s Professor Brian Maguire, who will address the issue during the Australian Fulbright Alumni Association (AFAA) conference in Melbourne this week (18 November).
“The fatality rate for paramedics is six times higher than the national average,” Professor Maguire says.
“Their injury rate is twice as high as the rate for Australian police officers.
“Assaults account for a large part of the risk, while the number of serious injury cases secondary to assault among paramedics has tripled from 10 per year to 30 per year, between the years 2001 and 2014.”
Professor Maguire will also address the topic of 'violence against paramedics' during the Paramedics Australasia International Conference in Melbourne on 25 November before flying to Washington D.C. to address the International Association of EMS Chiefs Summit on 9 December.
The CQUni professor is a 2009 Senior Fulbright Scholar and a former New York City hospital administrator, ambulance agency president and paramedic.
Professor Maguire also served as a consultant for the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as for numerous public health departments, and state and local governments in the areas of bioterrorism, pandemic and disaster preparedness.