Exposure to duty‐related incident stressors in urban firefighters and paramedics

Beaton, Randal D.; Murphy, Shirley A.; Johnson, Clark T.; Pike, Ken; Corneil, Wayne

doi:10.1023/a:1024461920456

Cited by 154 publications

(106 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Critical incident stress includes, but is not limited to, responding to the death of a child, 1,2 providing care to friends, family or those known to the responder, 2-6 and treating acutely ill or seriously injured patients. 2,4,7,8 Additional stressors associated with the provision of care include the risks of exposure to blood-borne pathogens, 9-11 verbal or physical violence, 7,12,13 and injury or death from vehicle-related crashes. [14][15][16] To a lesser extent, other research efforts have found that paramedics may also experience chronic work-related stressors, including insufficient salaries, 17,18 conflict with administrators, 17,19,20 lack of support from or conflict with colleagues, 2,3,5,[17][18][19][20][21] and interference with nonwork-related activities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of posttraumatic stress and preferred sources of social support among Canadian paramedics

Donnelly

Bradford

Davis

et al. 2015

CJEM

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Objective: Emergency medical service (EMS) providers are exposed to a variety of stressors endemic to the profession. These exposures may contribute to stress reactions, including posttraumatic stress. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between work-related stressors and posttraumatic stress. The secondary objective was to determine paramedics' preferred sources of support for managing work-related stress. Methods: 269 paramedics in a county-based EMS service were invited to complete an online survey. Respondents reported their demographic characteristics, levels of chronic stress, critical incident stress, posttraumatic stress symptomatology (PTSS), and preferred sources of support for managing work-related stress.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of posttraumatic stress and preferred sources of social support among Canadian paramedics

Donnelly

Bradford

Davis

et al. 2015

CJEM

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“…Firefighters have unique preconditions to develop working relationships and emotional connections, and higher degrees of work cohesion have been found to be significantly associated with decreased anxiety during emergencies. Other positive effects are successful decision making, greater effectiveness in responding to emergencies, a greater ability to cope with post-emergency experiences, and increased psychological well-being (Beaton, Murphy, Johnson, Pike, & Cornell, 1998;Fullerton, McCarroll, Ursano, & Wright, 1992;Landen & Wang, 2010;North et al, 2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Burnout and Association with Psychosocial Work Environment among Swedish Firefighters

Jacobsson¹,

Backteman-Erlandson²,

Padyab³

et al. 2016

GJHS

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Firefighters are exposed to traumatic and stressful psychosocial and physical strain in their work, and thus they are considered to be a group at high risk of burnout. The aim of this study was to investigate burnout (emotional exhaustion (EE) and depersonalization (DP) among Swedish female and male firefighters and to examine the gender-stratified relationship between psychosocial work environment and burnout when considering the moderating effect of coping strategies among Swedish firefighters. The overall mean values of both EE and DP were notably low in comparison with the general population in Sweden. We found that psychosocial work environment factors increase the risk of burnout among male firefighters. Among men, EE was associated with high demands and lack of social support in work. The association was also confirmed with DP as the outcome and lack of good leadership as the exposure among men. However, among female firefighters the association between psychosocial work environment factors and burnout failed to appear. Among women, EE and DP were only associated with the coping strategy Psychological distancing (PDi). A negative association with DP and the coping strategy Positive Reappraisal (PRe) was also found among women. Regardless of the result from the regression analyses, we must consider that the majority of the female and male firefighters in our study had low scores on the outcome variables EE and DP. Future studies should explore female and male firefighters' context and possible health-protecting environment.

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“…Support should also be made available during and after the placement period, accounting for immediate or delayed responses to any event(s) encountered. Encouraging education and awareness of mental health issues among paramedic students is an important step in reducing the high rates of anxiety, depression, PTSD and suicide that have been noted among qualified staff (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33). Introducing the concept of support and education early on, may also lead to a gradual change in the culture of the paramedic workforce, encouraging access to peer support and associated supports such as the Victorian Ambulance Crisis Counselling Unit.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Student Perceptions of Adverse Health Events During Ambulance Clinical Placements

Sheen

Boyd

Eastwood

et al. 2012

EDU

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This pilot study intended to augment current literature in the clinical placement field by investigating the frequency and nature of adverse health events experiences by paramedic students undertaking ambulance clinical placements. Supports accessed post event were also reviewed. A purposive sample of fifty-six paramedic students completed the questionnaire. The results indicate that a number of students experience adverse health events while on clinical placement, with fourteen cases of verbal abuse, one case of physical abuse, nine cases of sexualised behavior and seven cases of psychological distress reported. While some case related incidents were flagged by ambulance services and followed up by peer support, students did not initiate any formal support processes themselves. Moreover, no student filed a formal report regarding any of the incidents raised. The results of this pilot study require further investigation. In the interim, the benefits of clinical placements must be weighed against their risks, and processes put in place to minimize the risk to students undertaking clinical placements.

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Exposure to duty‐related incident stressors in urban firefighters and paramedics

Cited by 154 publications

References 8 publications

Predictors of posttraumatic stress and preferred sources of social support among Canadian paramedics

Predictors of posttraumatic stress and preferred sources of social support among Canadian paramedics

Burnout and Association with Psychosocial Work Environment among Swedish Firefighters

Student Perceptions of Adverse Health Events During Ambulance Clinical Placements

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