Looking through the bottle: Exploring alcohol use among emergency medical service providers

急救医疗服务（EMS）提供者是第一响应者系统中经常被忽视但必不可少的组成部分，他们在2021年响应了近4900万个急救医疗服务（EMS）呼叫，经常面临传染病暴露，紧张的工作环境以及在不受控制的环境中提供护理时反复暴露于创伤。因此，EMS提供者经历的几种不良健康影响，包括肥胖、睡眠障碍、肌肉骨骼损伤和心理健康问题已被记录在案。尽管出现了已知的不利健康影响，但研究并没有将注意力集中在其他众所周知的健康问题上，如饮酒。鉴于EMS提供者由于其紧张的职业而可能有危险的酒精消费，这种信息的缺乏尤其令人担忧。此外，一些已知的不良健康后果与酒精使用有关（例如职业或意外伤害，身体暴力，睡眠问题，不合标准的健身，肝脏疾病和神经损伤）。因此，了解酒精在EMS文化中的作用对健康和保健计划的发展至关重要。EMS供应商的作用变得非常宝贵，最近的大流行突出了这一点，使了解酒精使用不仅成为向公众提供的紧急服务质量的优先事项，而且也成为EMS供应商的健康和安全的优先事项。使用多方法的方法，本研究将使用EMS供应商的国家样本，以提供EMS供应商文化内的酒精使用的基本了解。与供应商的访谈将深入了解酒精消费在EMS文化中的作用，促进或缓和酒精滥用的因素，以及以工作场所为重点的政策干预措施。随机选择的EMS提供者样本将确定基线饮酒流行率，提供社会人口统计学和职业风险因素的横断面评估。一个前瞻性的2年组成部分将允许检查酒精使用和行为，职业，身体和心理健康结果之间的关联。

An often overlooked yet essential component in the first responder system, emergency medical service (EMS) providers responded to almost 49 million emergency medical service (EMS) calls in 2021, routinely facing infectious disease exposure, intense work environments, and repeated exposure to trauma as they provided care in uncontrolled settings. As a result, several adverse health effects experienced by EMS providers including obesity, sleep disorders, musculoskeletal injuries, and mental health concerns have been documented. Despite the emergence of known adverse health impacts, research has not focused much attention to other well-known health issues such as alcohol use. This dearth of information is particularly concerning given the potential for risky alcohol consumption among EMS providers as a result of their stressful profession. Additionally, several known adverse health outcomes have been associated with alcohol use (e.g. occupational or accidental injuries, physical violence, sleep issues, substandard fitness, liver disease, and neurological impairment). Therefore, understanding the role of alcohol in EMS culture is essential to the development of health and wellness programs. The role of EMS providers has become invaluable, recently highlighted by the pandemic, making understanding alcohol use a priority to not only the quality of emergency services provided to the public but to the health and safety of EMS providers. Using a multi-method approach, this study will use a national sample of EMS providers to provide a foundational understanding of alcohol use within the EMS provider culture. Interviews with providers will provide insight into the role of alcohol consumption in EMS culture, factors which promote or moderate alcohol misuse, and workplace-focused policy interventions. A randomly selected sample of EMS providers will identify baseline prevalence of alcohol use providing a cross-sectional evaluation of sociodemographic and occupational risk factors. A prospective 2-year component will allow for the examination of associations between alcohol use and behaviors, and occupational, physical, and mental health outcomes.