The Development of Physical Ability Standardsas a Bona Fide Occupational Requirement(BFOR) for the Ottawa Paramedic Service

Paramedics provide essential emergency care services for Canadians. However, in providing this service, paramedics are exposed to many highly demanding task and situations. Further, these high demands are often referred to when paramedics suffer pain, discomfort and even injury. While efforts are underway to lessen these demands where possible, due to the nature of paramedic work it is not feasible to eliminate all high demand, potentially hazardous tasks. So it remains important to prescreen potential paramedics to ensure that they demonstrate the abilities required to meet all of the demands of their work. This project aims to develop an evidence-based pre-hire physical abilities test for paramedics. To achieve this aim, the research team will follow the best practices guideline that resulted from the 2001 Bona Fide Occupational Requirements Forum, based in part on the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision on the Meiorin case.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Steve Fischer

Student:

Kathryn Sinden

Partner:

Movement Performance Centre

Discipline:

Kinesiology

Sector:

Medical devices

University:

Queen's University