Potrzeby zdrowotne ratowników medycznych)

Introduction, For a person in emergency condition, a qualified, efficient and healthy medical rescue worker guar antees professional aid of the highest standard. Consequently, the assessment of health needs of medical rescue workers is of great importance. Aim. Analysis of health needs of medical rescue worker. Materials and methods. The research tool was a questionnaire prepared by the authors and sent to 100 medical rescue workers at the age of 22-51. Results. The vast majority of medical rescue workers (80%), eat meals in a hurry. One out of five respondents (22%) starts work without breakfast. Every second medical rescue worker (53%) said that he/she drinks alcohol several times a month. The largest group of respondents (60%) are people who do not smoke cigarettes. Most medical rescue workers spend free time using a computer (68%). The most common preventive test which medical rescue workers undergo regularly is a blood test (73%). A half of the respondents (53%) said that they pricked themselves during their duty with a needle that had been in contact with the blood of the patient. More than one third of the respondents declared that they suffer from sleep disorders (39%) and digestive system diseases (40%). One out of five respondents has skin allergies (21%). Cardiovascular diseases, including heart diseases and vascular diseases appear in the case of nearly one third of the respondents (28%). Conclusions. 1. The number of diseases/disorders associated with the work of a medical rescue worker is high and suggests that measures should be taken in this respect. 2. The alarming results concerning digestive system and sleep disorders suggest the need to implement a prevention program aimed at reducing risk factors of these symptoms. 3. It is necessary to take measures so as to modify eating be- haviour of medical rescue workers.