The physical demands of emergency response are a leading cause of injuries that may benefit from similar interventions across the occupations. To assess risk, improved exposure data need to be acquired, particularly for volunteers.

New and enhanced efforts to prevent EMS worker injuries are needed, especially those aimed at preventing body motion injuries and exposures to harmful substances. EMS and public safety agencies should consider adopting and evaluating injury prevention measures to improve occupational safety and promote the health, performance, and retention of the EMS workforce.

Emergency medical technicians and paramedics have higher fatal injury rates when compared with all workers. To reduce fatalities, targeted efforts should be made to prevent ground and air transportation incidents. Reducing nonfatal injuries may be accomplished by developing and evaluating interventions to prevent bodily stress and overexertion injuries.

Single-bed rooms do not guarantee lower sound levels per se but may imply less frequent disruptive sounds. Sixty-four percent of disruptive sounds were avoidable. Our findings warrant sound reducing strategies for ICU patients.