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I had asked previously if the lift requirements would be the same for PTs v. other health care workers. You listed the NIOSH guidelines. Can you tell me your professional opinion if someone were required to perform the following tasks: “the ability to ambulate, position, lift, push, pull or catch a falling patient weighing 200 to 250 lbs. and, in less frequent situations, a patient weighing over 400 lbs;” Thank you.
Theresa Keenan
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Dear
Theresa:
It’s difficult to imagine what kind of physical strength and agility a caregiver would need in order to accomplish the task you describe. One can only hope that this is NOT part of a bona fide job description.
From all the evidence-based research studies we are able to uncover, one of the most difficult and dangerous tasks a caregiver can undertake is to assist, as you describe, a patient who may fall at any time, especially a large patient. In addition to awkward body angles and positioning, all of which make the caregiver more susceptible to injury, there’s always the possibility that the caregiver will fall along with the patient. In our professional opinion, the person required to perform the task described would have to be a specially trained, extremely well conditioned individual in order to avoid risk of injury to both the patient and themselves.
Stay safe,
The Lift Doctor* |
