Predicting stretcher carriage: Investigating variations in bilateral carry tests.

Carrying a casualty on a stretcher is a critical task within military and emergency service occupations. This study evaluated the impact of manipulating carry speed and the object type in bilateral carries on the ability to predict performance and reflect the physical and physiological requirements of a unilateral stretcher carry. We demonstrated that three task-related predictive tests; a jerry can carry performed at 4.5 km h(-1)or 5.0 km h(-1) and a kettle-bell carry performed at 5.0 km h(-1) were strongly predictive of the physical and physiological demands of an individual participating as part of a four-person stretcher carry team. Therefore, bilateral predictive assessments have the utility for predicting the suitability of employees to effectively and safely conduct a four-person unilateral stretcher carry.

[1]  P. Vanderburgh.  Occupational relevance and body mass bias in military physical fitness tests. , 2008, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[2]  K. Harms-Ringdahl,et al.  A lower-limb functional capacity test for enlistment into Swedish Armed Forces ranger units. , 2006, Military medicine.

[3]  K W Kornatz,et al.  Effect of grip span on maximal grip force and fatigue of flexor digitorum superficialis. , 1999, Applied ergonomics.

[4]  Joseph J. Knapik,et al.  Standard and alternative methods of stretcher carriage: performance, human factors, and cardiorespiratory responses , 2000 .

[5]  M. Tipton,et al.  Physiological employment standards I. Occupational fitness standards: objectively subjective? , 2012, European Journal of Applied Physiology.

[6]  Thomas J. Armstrong,et al.  Investigation of Grip Force, Normal Force, Contact Area, Hand Size, and Handle Size for Cylindrical Handles , 2008, Hum. Factors.

[7]  J. Harvey,et al.  A framework for the design and development of physical employment tests and standards , 2010, Ergonomics.

[8]  Kemal Polat,et al.  Breast cancer diagnosis using least square support vector machine , 2007, Digit. Signal Process..

[9]  M A Sharp,et al.  Prediction of performance on two stretcher-carry tasks. , 1994, Work.

[10]  A study of the effects of isokinetic pre-employment physical capability screening in the reduction of musculoskeletal disorders in a labor intensive work environment. , 2006, Work.

[11]  U. Rohde,et al.  Recovery of hand grip strength and hand steadiness after exhausting manual stretcher carriage , 2006, European Journal of Applied Physiology.

[12]  L Léger,et al.  Heart Rate Monitors: Validity, Stability, and Functionality. , 1988, The Physician and sportsmedicine.

[13]  Ron Kohavi,et al.  A Study of Cross-Validation and Bootstrap for Accuracy Estimation and Model Selection , 1995, IJCAI.

[14]  J. Ross,et al.  Pharmacogenomic predictor of sensitivity to preoperative chemotherapy with paclitaxel and fluorouracil, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide in breast cancer. , 2006, Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

[15]  L. Léger,et al.  A maximal multistage 20-m shuttle run test to predict $$\dot V$$ O2 max , 2004, European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology.

[16]  José Antonio Lozano,et al.  Sensitivity Analysis of k-Fold Cross Validation in Prediction Error Estimation , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence.

[17]  Valarie A. Sheppard,et al.  Performance requirements of physically strenuous occupations: validating minimum standards for muscular strength and endurance , 2004, Ergonomics.

[18]  P. Åstrand,et al.  A nomogram for calculation of aerobic capacity (physical fitness) from pulse rate during sub-maximal work. , 1954, Journal of applied physiology.

[19]  I. Åstrand.  Aerobic work capacity in men and women with special reference to age. , 1960, Acta physiologica Scandinavica. Supplementum.

[20]  Stuart M McGill,et al.  Low back loads while walking and carrying: comparing the load carried in one hand or in both hands , 2013, Ergonomics.

[21]  Herb Groeller,et al.  Work-based physiological assessment of physically-demanding trades: a methodological overview. , 2003, Journal of physiological anthropology and applied human science.

[22]  Å. Kilbom,et al.  One-handed load carrying — Cardiovascular, muscular and subjective indices of endurance and fatigue , 2005, European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology.

[23]  G. Harbin,et al.  Post-offer, pre-placement testing in industry. , 2005, American journal of industrial medicine.

[24]  Richard Taylor.  Interpretation of the Correlation Coefficient: A Basic Review , 1990 .

[25]  Ke Wang,et al.  PSORT-B: improving protein subcellular localization prediction for Gram-negative bacteria , 2003, Nucleic Acids Res..

[26]  William J. Tharion,et al.  The effects of gender, team size, and a shoulder harness on a stretcher-carry task and post-carry performance. Part I. A simulated carry from a remote site , 1996 .

[27]  Jennifer J. Richler,et al.  Effect size estimates: current use, calculations, and interpretation. , 2012, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[28]  Joseph J. Knapik,et al.  Physiological factors in stretcher carriage performance , 1999, European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology.

[29]  Kane J. Middleton,et al.  Jerry can carriage is an effective predictor of stretcher carry performance , 2016, Ergonomics.