Abstract
First responders and their patients can be exposed to high levels of whole-body vibration (WBV) during ambulance transport. Using vibration measurements over the front and rear axles of a shuttle bus, the purpose of this field-based study was to measure and compare the WBV exposures between a shuttle bus with a conventional, stock suspension and a shuttle bus with an alternative, vibration-mitigating suspension. This alternative suspension can be installed in ambulances. The WBV exposures measured from the rear of both shuttle buses were on average over 50% higher than those measured from the front of the vehicle. When comparing the floor-measured vibration levels, which were used as a surrogate measurement to compare the vehicle occupants’ potential exposures, the WBV exposures were always lower in the shuttle bus with the alternative suspension. If these results can be translated to actual ambulances, relative to the ambulance cab, it appears that patients and first responders traveling in the patient compartment in the rear of an ambulance would likely have up to 50% higher vibration exposures. The alternative suspension demonstrated it would reduce the WBV exposures of all vehicle occupants compared to a vehicle with a conventional, stock suspension.
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Johnson, P.W., Kiselis, G., Ford, G., Bartolone, D. (2021). Evaluation of a Suspension System to Reduce Whole Body Vibration Exposures Which Can Be Used in Ambulances. In: Black, N.L., Neumann, W.P., Noy, I. (eds) Proceedings of the 21st Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2021). IEA 2021. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 222. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74611-7_48
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74611-7_48
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