Trauma exposure and post‐traumatic stress disorder within fire and emergency services in Western Australia
Open accessAbstract
ObjectiveWhile it is widely accepted that fire and emergency work is of high risk for potentially traumatic event exposure and post‐trauma pathology, there has been limited published data regarding Australian fire and emergency service workers. The relationship between trauma exposure and mental health outcomes, in particular the significance of social support and coping style was explored.MethodParticipants were 210 Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) career firefighters in Western Australia (WA). This study employed a cross‐sectional, correlational design, with a combination of self‐selection and random sampling.ResultsResults found that DFES career members were exposed to trauma at significantly higher rates than the general population and reported elevated rates of post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology. Trauma exposure, social support, and coping style significantly contributed to variation in PTSD symptomatology, with maladaptive coping strategies accounting for more PTSD variance than adaptive coping.ConclusionsElevated rates of PTSD identify WA DFES members as a high risk population. There was evidence that trauma exposure, social support, and coping style significantly contributed to levels of PTSD symptomatology. Maladaptive coping strategies, such as distraction, substance use, venting and self‐blame, accounted for more variance in PTSD symptomatology than adaptive coping strategies, indicating that prevention or treatment interventions may be most effective by targeting reduction of maladaptive coping strategies, with a secondary focus on building adaptive coping strategies.
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Exposure to critical incidents is common among paramedics.
“The literature suggests exposure to critical incidents is common among paramedics, with one study reporting 64% of paramedics were exposed to two or more critical incidents over five years and a further study reporting 72-97% of paramedics had been exposed to at least one critical incident (E. Donnelly & Siebert, 2009; Oginska-Bulik & Kobylarczyk, 2015; Skeffington, Rees, & Mazzucchell”
From Understanding the Occupational Factors that Influence Paramedic Health and Wellbeing (2024) · cites this paper as Skeffington, Rees, & Mazzucchelli, 2017
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Understanding the Occupational Factors that Influence Paramedic Health and Wellbeing
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- Authors
- Skeffington, P. M., Rees, C. S., & Mazzucchelli, T.
- Affiliations
- Curtin University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Skeffington, Petra M.
- Venue
- Australian Journal of Psychology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2017-03-01
- Volume
- 69
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 20-28
- ISSN
- 0004-9530 (ISSN-L)
- 1742-9536
- OpenAlex
- W2300215231
- Cited by
- 64
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 6.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Australian Journal of Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Murdoch University Research Portal (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- eSpace (Curtin University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Performance
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Keywords
- post-traumatic stress disorder, trauma exposure, firefighters, fire and emergency services, workplace mental health, social support, coping strategies, maladaptive coping, posttraumatic stress symptoms, Western Australia
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