Based upon a review of the Transcript of Hearing, and the Exhibits introduced into evidence, I make the following Findings of Fact:
Claimant is a 46-year-old bus driver who has been employed by First Student and its predecessors for sixteen years. Claimant continued to work for Employer on the date of the hearing. Claimant works five days a week from mid-August through the end of May; she is off of work for Christmas Break and Spring Break. She normally begins work at approximately 6:25 a.m. and works three distinct shifts during the day. She is completes her work day at approximately 4:10 p.m. Her workweek is five days per week.
Claimant's job duties include preparing her bus for the day, picking up students in the morning and dropping them off at school, and then reversing the procedure in the afternoon. Claimant also drives a shift in the middle of the day in which she picks up kindergarten students and drops them off. Claimant is assigned to the same bus, unless there is a maintenance issue or it is broken down, in which cases she would switch buses. She has been driving the same bus since 2008; it is an 84 passenger bus with power steering and an automatic transmission.
When she picks up or drops off students, Claimant is required to perform several actions with her right arm. First, Claimant applies the airbrake, which requires pulling the brake lever with her right arm; the airbrake often vibrates as it is being applied. Next, Claimant must open the door to allow students to enter or exit. Claimant's bus has a manual door opener which requires her to lift the lever up, and then pull, to open the door. Claimant testified that the door in her current bus is harder to open than the prior bus door. Claimant's prior bus had a door opening mechanism that was "looser", making it easier to operate.
Once the students are in their seats, or clear of the bus, Claimant releases the airbrake, engages the transmission, and proceeds to her next stop. The pain in Claimant's right shoulder makes it difficult for her to engage the transmission. Claimant sometimes hears a pop in her right shoulder when she engages the transmission. In a usual day, Claimant estimated that she has 84 morning stops, 84 afternoon stops, and 22 stops at lunchtime when she drives the kindergarten children.
Claimant's shoulder problems began in the Fall of 2009. Claimant's shoulder feels as though there is "gas" stuck in her shoulder; sometimes she feels pain radiating down to her elbow. Although Claimant could not give an exact date that her problems began, she knows her shoulder began hurting when she began driving the newer bus. As time went on, the symptoms in Claimant's shoulder worsened.
During the period of time she worked for First Student, Claimant also had a job in which she helped care for an Alzheimer's patient. She would help with cleaning, cooking and ambulating; this work did involve the use of her arms.
On December 9, 2009, Claimant was examined by Dr. Broyles, who had previously been her husband's physician. Dr. Broyles gave Claimant pain medicine and told her that her shoulder condition was related to repetitious activity at work. Following her visit to Dr. Broyles, Claimant told Employer about her shoulder complaints and that she believed her complaints were related to her work. Employer referred Claimant to Concentra where she was seen on one occasion. Claimant did not receive any treatment at Concentra and has had no further treatment to her shoulder since that visit.
At the time of the Hearing, Claimant had tingling in her arm from the shoulder to the elbow. She has difficulty sleeping because of discomfort in her shoulder and treats her condition with heat and ice. She also has headaches due to her shoulder and she takes Tylenol.