Abstract
M.Phil. (Biokinetics)
Introduction
The occupation of emergency care providers places significant mental and physical demands on
the body. Emergency care providers perform a range of tasks on demand in a pre-hospital
environment; from lifting stretchers and working night shifts, to conducting rescue operations.
Good physical fitness and health may play an important role in this occupation. Emergency care
providers face injury-causing factors relating to musculoskeletal overuse, poor biomechanics
when carrying patients, muscular weakness and physical inactivity. Currently, there are limited
studies relating to emergency care provider physical fitness in South Africa.
Aim
The study aimed to determine the relationship between a fitness test battery and an emergency
rescue simulation (RS) circuit performed by emergency care providers to identify the impact of
physical fitness in the field of emergency medical and rescue services (EMRS).
Methods
This was a descriptive study because it assessed the physical fitness attributes related to the
nature of the job, duties and responsibilities of emergency care providers. A correlational study
design was used to determine the relationship between the fitness test and rescue simulation
variables. Eighty-seven emergency care providers in the North West province of South Africa
volunteered for the study. Occupational fitness parameters tested were morphological
measurements, field fitness tests and a rescue simulation circuit. The main fitness components
tested were muscular strength and endurance, aerobic and anaerobic capacity, and flexibility.
Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to assess if there was a positive correlation between
the fitness assessment derived from the morphological measurements and the fitness test and
completion time of the rescue simulation by emergency care providers. Differences in gender,
age and body mass index (BMI) formed part of the descriptive statistics. Student’s t-test was
used to compare the results between genders. A test-retest method was applied to evaluate the
reliability of the rescue simulation. The significance of the study was set at the 5% level.
Results
Correlations were observed between the RS and all fitness tests except the modified sit-andreach
test. The most significant relationship was observed between RS and the one-minute sit-up...