[Occupational risk in basic and advanced emergency life support units].

This study aimed to identify occupational risk factors the professionals of Basic and Advanced Emergency Life Support are exposed. Semi-structured interview was used. The study subjects were 40 workers who are part of two Emergency Healthcare System teams in a city of São Paulo State-Brazil. Most workers identified the following risk factors: physical (high temperature and environmental noise levels); chemical (manipulating chemical substances); biological (exposure to microorganisms and lack of material available). Typical risks of emergency activities were: risk of car accidents (90% of the workers), physical and moral aggression (90% of the workers) and accidents with piercing and cutting material (72.5% of the workers). 75% of the workers described violence as the most worrying risk factor at work. Most of the workers identified the occupational risks. However only a minority of them uses adequate safety measures, which reveals the need for interventions.