A qualitative study of health problems, risk factors, and prevention among Emergency Medical Service workers

Dropkin, Jonathan; Moline, Jacqueline; Power, Paul; Kim, Hyun

doi:10.3233/wor-152139

Cited by 31 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…1). The studies were conducted in a range of countries including the United States of America (n = 9) [9,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26], Australia (n = 8) [10,[27][28][29][30][31][32][33], Canada (n = 6) [34][35][36][37][38][39], Sweden (n = 5) [40][41][42][43][44], the England (n = 4) [44][45][46][47][48], Ireland (n = 2) [49,50], Norway (n = 2) [11,51], Saudi Arabia (n = 1) [52], and Israel (n = 1) [53]. Another study was conducted in both Australia and the United Kingdom [54].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of the primary research studies, the most common data collection method was semi-structured interviews (n = 11) [26, 27, 40-42, 44-46, 49, 51, 53]. Four studies used a combination of semistructured interviews and focus groups [21,34,35,54], while another four utilised questionnaires with at least one open-ended question [10,20,29,37]. Six studies used a mixed methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effects of emergency medical service work on the psychological, physical, and social well-being of ambulance personnel: a systematic review of qualitative research

et al. 2020

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Background: High rates of mental distress, mental illness, and the associated physical effects of psychological injury experienced by ambulance personnel has been widely reported in quantitative research. However, there is limited understanding of how the nature of ambulance work contributes to this problem, the significant large toll that emergency medical response takes on the individual, and particularly about late and cumulative development of work-related distress among this first responder workforce. Methods: This study examined peer-reviewed qualitative research published from 2000 to 2018 to outline the effect of emergency medical response work on the psychological, psychosocial, and physical health of paramedics, ambulance officers, ambulance volunteers, and call-takers. Databases searched included: Ovid Medline, CINAHL, Ovid EMcare, PsychInfo and Scopus. The systematic review was organised around five key areas: impact of the work on psychological wellbeing; impact of psychological stress on physical wellbeing; how work-related well-being needs were articulated; effects of workflow and the nature of the work on well-being; and, effects of organisational structures on psychological and physical well-being. Results: Thirty-nine articles met the eligibility criteria. Several factors present in the day-today work of ambulance personnel, and in how organisational management acknowledge and respond, were identified as being significant and contributing to mental health and well-being, or increasing the risk for developing conditions such as PTSD, depression, and anxiety. Ambulance personnel articulated their well-being needs across four key areas: organisational support; informal support; use of humour; and individual mechanisms to cope such as detachment and external supports.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of emergency medical service work on the psychological, physical, and social well-being of ambulance personnel: a systematic review of qualitative research

et al. 2020

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“…Notärzte sind zahlreichen Belastungen ausgesetzt [2,5,7,17,22]. Dazu zählen zum einen die Verletzungsgefahr sowie die Exposition gegenüber Infektionserregern.…”

Section: Belastungsfaktoren In Der Notfallmedizinunclassified

“…Durch die hohe zeitliche Arbeitsbelastung mit vielen Diensten und Überstunden sowie auch durch die zu leistende Schichtarbeit kann die Work-Life-Balance gestört sein, was wiederum die psychische Gesundheitbeeinträchtigenkann [2,6]. Schichtarbeit erschwert nicht nur die Vereinbarkeit von Beruf und Privatleben, darüber hinaus kann sie zu Schlafstörungen und anderen gesundheitlichen Beeinträchtigungen führen [7].…”

Section: Belastungsfaktoren In Der Notfallmedizinunclassified

Psychische Beeinträchtigungen infolge erhöhter Belastungen bei Notärzten

Darius

Balkaner

Böckelmann

2020

Notfall Rettungsmed

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Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Die Tätigkeit als Notarzt ist mit hohen psychischen und emotionalen Belastungen im Arbeitsalltag verbunden, die zu gesundheitlichen Beeinträchtigungen führen können. Ziel der Studie war es, die Belastungen von Notärzten einerseits und die damit möglicherweise verbundenen psychischen gesundheitlichen Beeinträchtigungen andererseits zu erfassen. Methodik An der Studie nahmen 33 Notärzte (14 Frauen, 19 Männer) im Alter von 38,2 ± 7,2 Jahren freiwillig teil. Neben den Belastungsfaktoren wurden gesundheitliche bzw. psychische Beeinträchtigungen mit folgenden standardisierten Fragebögen erfasst: die psychische Gesundheit mit der Kurzversion des General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) und das Burn-out-Risiko mit dem Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Die Rücklaufquote liegt bei 22 %. Ergebnisse Als Belastungsfaktoren wurden neben räumlicher Enge im Rettungswagen hauptsächlich Faktoren psychischer Belastung auf kommunikativer sowie organisationaler Ebene des Rettungsdiensts genannt. Psychische gesundheitliche Beeinträchtigungen wurden von einem Drittel der Studienteilnehmer berichtet, einige Burn-out-Symptome lagen bereits bei 12 Notärzten (37,5 %) vor. Schlussfolgerung Aufgrund erhöhter Belastung bei Notärzten ist die psychische Gesundheit bei ihnen gefährdet. Präventive Maßnahmen wie die Verbesserung der Kommunikationsstrukturen sowie der Organisation können sinnvoll sein, um gesundheitliche Beeinträchtigungen zu vermeiden bzw. zumindest einzudämmen.

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“…Paramedics' duties are characterized as highly demanding which can have a negative influence on workers' health status. It was documented that the demands of paramedics' duty represent a key factor influencing the workers' health status over both the short [1][2][3][4] and long term [5][6][7][8][9][10]. More precisely, organizational, physical and psychosocial work-related demands were identified as catalysts causing or accelerating the deterioration of health status among paramedics [1][2][3][4].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the relationship between health status and simulated patient-care scenario performance among experienced paramedics.

Tremblay¹,

Wj²,

Sl³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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BACKGROUND: It is well known that health status of paramedics may be altered by their job demands. However, it is unknown whether health conditions have a negative impact on occupational performance. The goal of this study was to explore whether a paramedic’s health status affects performance during a patient-care simulation. More precisely, this paper aims to identify which health conditions (i.e., cardiovascular diseases (CVD), musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorders (GAD)) could be associated with negative performance. METHODS: Nineteen paramedics aged 38.2 ± 8.6 years old with 15.0 ± 8.7 years of paramedic experience participated in this study. Participants completed two assessments: i) health conditions measurements and ii) patient-care simulation. Heart rate variability (HRV), an indicator of vagal activity was collected during the patient-care simulation. The simulation was used in order to challenge experienced paramedics in a realistic setting. Based on the provincial standard of New Brunswick, an experienced paramedic instructor graded (passed or failed) the patient-care simulation using the provincial standard charts, videos and data from manikin. RESULTS: The current study suggests that only paramedics with self-reported elevated symptoms of PTSD were less likely to successfully complete the simulated patient-care scenario. An inhibition of the vagal activity was noted during the patient-care simulation among individuals identified with PTSD. No link was observed between physical health conditions (CVD, MSD) and simulated patient-care performance. Overall, paramedics who passed the patient-care simulation presented higher vagal activity during the patient assessment. CONCLUSIONS: This research suggests that the presence of self-reported elevated symptoms of PTSD negatively impacts paramedics’ performance during a stressful work task simulation. Therefore, to help paramedics maintain optimal performance, it may be important to ensure that paramedics have access to appropriate resources to monitor and improve their psychosocial health. Future studies should investigate more complex work tasks with larger sample sizes and more complex simulations.

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A qualitative study of health problems, risk factors, and prevention among Emergency Medical Service workers

Cited by 31 publications

References 37 publications

The effects of emergency medical service work on the psychological, physical, and social well-being of ambulance personnel: a systematic review of qualitative research

The effects of emergency medical service work on the psychological, physical, and social well-being of ambulance personnel: a systematic review of qualitative research

Psychische Beeinträchtigungen infolge erhöhter Belastungen bei Notärzten

Exploring the relationship between health status and simulated patient-care scenario performance among experienced paramedics.

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