ABSTRACT
Noise risk is moderate in hospital but there are some areas, as SSUEm118, where the background noise is not negligible. In this context it is important not to underestimate hearing loss even minimal, because the noise interference can cause errors of understanding, as the case in exam: an operator 118. The clinical assessment of this worker with liminar tonal audiometry and vocal audiometry revealed a mild unilateral mixed hearing loss with good voice response. The equivalent sound pressure level (Leq) throughout the SSUEm118 area is under the first attention level, the index NR is comparable to office type environments and the distance between speaker and listener for satisfactory face-to-face communication is suitable. The present study proposes a multi-multidisciplinary approach to define prevention and protection measures and health surveillance plan with audiometric testing and possible judgment of the unfitness to specific work. For this specific case advices given to SSUEm118 administrator allowed a good repositioning of the worker.
Subject(s)
Emergency Medical Services , Hearing Loss/diagnosis , Work Capacity Evaluation , Audiometry , Hearing Loss/prevention & control , HumansABSTRACT
The authors suggest a method for "measuring" the morpho-functional damage of hands and wrists. This method analyzes three postural tests: - "Praying hands" (cf. Fig. 1,2) - "Back of the hands opposed" (cf. Fig. 3) - "Phalanges opposed (by their dorsum)" (cf. Fig 4). These tests define for each hand three angles a1, a2, a3. The corresponding indices I1, I2, I3 are obtained by the following formula: Ii = (1 - ai/90 degrees) . 100. One then defines a general index ITOT by the following expression: ITOT = (I1 + I2 + I3)/3 The index ITOT looks very effective in assessing the patient's condition in an objective way and is simple enough to be used in everyday practice. Hence it is also helpful in therapy-monitoring.
