EMS Responders\u27 Perceived Safety Climate and Behaviors Concerning Blood-borne Pathogens Exposure Control

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) exposure control program implementation in the Memphis Division of Fire services.Methods:EMSworkers (N = 141) were sampled from 19 fire stations in Memphis, Tennessee for their perceptions of safe work environment and compliance to safe workplace behaviors concerning blood-borne pathogens using a previously-validated questionnaire.Results:Participants indicated weak compliance concerning use of protective outer garments, eye shields, and masks. Weak agreement was indicated with having orderly work environments and having minimal departmental conflict. Participants indicated strong compliance with proper use and disposal of sharps and potentially contaminated materials. Associations were noted between perception of safe work environment and compliance (p \u3c 0.05).Conclusion: These results demonstrate strengths and weaknesses in the exposure control program in the Memphis Division of Fire Services among EMS personnel

Dynamic models of stress-smoking responses based on high-frequency sensor data

Self-reports indicate that stress increases the risk for smoking; however, intensive data from sensors can provide a more nuanced understanding of stress in the moments leading up to and following smoking events. Identifying personalized dynamical models of stress-smoking responses can improve characterizations of smoking responses following stress, but techniques used to identify these models require intensive longitudinal data. This study leveraged advances in wearable sensing technology and digital markers of stress and smoking to identify person-specific models of stress and smoking system dynamics by considering stress immediately before, during, and after smoking events. Adult smokers (n = 45) wore the AutoSense chestband (respiration-inductive plethysmograph, electrocardiogram, accelerometer) with MotionSense (accelerometers, gyroscopes) on each wrist for three days prior to a quit attempt. The odds of minute-level smoking events were regressed on minute-level stress probabilities to identify person-specific dynamic models of smoking responses to stress. Simulated pulse responses to a continuous stress episode revealed a consistent pattern of increased odds of smoking either shortly after the beginning of the simulated stress episode or with a delay, for all participants. This pattern is followed by a dramatic reduction in the probability of smoking thereafter, for about half of the participants (49%). Sensor-detected stress probabilities indicate a vulnerability for smoking that may be used as a tailoring variable for just-in-time interventions to support quit attempts

Towards detecting cocaine use using smartwatches in the NIDA clinical trials network: Design, rationale, and methodology

Cocaine use in clinical trials is often measured via self-report, which can be inaccurate, or urine drug screens, which can be intrusive and burdensome. Devices that can automatically detect cocaine use and can be worn conveniently in daily life may provide several benefits. AutoSense is a wearable, physiological-monitoring suite that can detect cocaine use, but it may be limited as a method for monitoring cocaine use because it requires wearing a chestband with electrodes. This paper describes the design, rationale, and methodology of a project that seeks to build upon and extend previous work in the development of methods to detect cocaine use via wearable, unobtrusive mobile sensor technologies. To this end, a wrist-worn sensor suite (i.e., MotionSense HRV) will be developed and evaluated. Participants who use cocaine (N = 25) will be asked to wear MotionSense HRV and AutoSense for two weeks during waking hours. Drug use will be assessed via thrice-weekly urine drug screens and self-reports, and will be used to isolate periods of cocaine use that will be differentiated from other drug use. The present study will provide information on the feasibility and acceptability of using a wrist-worn device to detect cocaine use