An epidemiological study of injuries during 'Police Mutal Aid Standard' training in the Greater Manchester Police

Abstract

Background - Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has 6,794 officers most of which receive Police Mutual Aid Standard (PMAS) training. Aim - To collect data on PMAS training injuries, describe the occurrence of injuries and identify possible risk factors. Method - Chi square analysis was used to test 4 hypotheses. Exposure time was taken into account. Hypotheses 1: The injury rate during PMAS training in GMP is different to other forces. Hypotheses 2: Some components of training have a higher incidence of injury than others. Hypotheses 3: Some mechanisms cause more injuries than others. Hypotheses 4: Some parts of the body are more frequently injured than others. Results - During the period 1 April 1999 and 31 December 2001, 10,609 officers were trained and 300 injuries were recorded. There were 0.0118 injuries per day. The difference between injury rates in GMP and other forces was not significant (p = 0.108). There was a highly significant difference in the incidence of injury during different components of training (p < 0.0005). The 'Violent Deranged Person' scenario was the component causing most injuries . The 'Warm Up' had a high incidence of injury considering its nature and purpose. The difference in incidence of injury caused by different mechanisms was highly significant (p < 0.0005). Being struck by missiles was the mechanism causing most injuries. There was a highly significant difference in the number of injuries to different parts of the body (p < 0.0005). The leg and ankle received most injuries. Conclusions - The evidence from this study can be used to guide future injury prevention strategies for PMAS training.