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Cited by 146Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ResearchStress and Burnout ResearchOccupational Health and Performance

Work-Related Stress and Posttraumatic Stress in Emergency Medical Services

Donnelly, Elizabeth·2012·Prehospital Emergency Care
DOI 10.3109/10903127.2011.621044
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Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Recent research efforts in emergency medical services (EMS) has identified variability in the ability of EMS personnel to recognize their level of stress-related impairment. Developing a better understanding of how workplace stress may affect EMS personnel is a key step in the process of increasing awareness of the impact of work-related stress and stress-related impairment. OBJECTIVE: This paper demonstrates that for those in EMS, exposure to several types of workplace stressors is linked to stress reactions. Stress reactions such as posttraumatic stress symptomatology (PTSS) have the potential to negatively influence the health of EMS providers. This research demonstrates that two different types of work-related stress and alcohol use influence the development of PTSS. METHODS: A probability sample of nationally registered emergency medical technician (EMT)-Basics and EMT-Paramedics (n = 1,633) completed an Internet-based survey. Respondents reported their levels of operational and organizational types of chronic stress, critical incident stress, alcohol use, and PTSS. RESULTS: Ordinary least squares regression illustrated that when demographic factors were controlled, organizational and operational forms of chronic stress, critical incident stress, and alcohol use were all significant predictors of PTSS (p < 0.01). Inclusion of an interaction effect between operational stress and critical incident stress (p < 0.01) as well as between operational stress and alcohol use (p < 0.01) created a robust final model with an R(2) of 0.343. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that exposure to both chronic and critical incident stressors increases the risk of EMS providers' developing a posttraumatic stress reaction. Higher levels of chronic stress, critical incident stress, and alcohol use significantly related to an increased level of PTSS. Further, for those reporting high levels of alcohol use or critical incident stress, interactions with high levels of chronic operational stress were associated with higher rates of PTSS. For those interested in the impact of work-related stress in EMS, these findings indicate that attention must be paid to levels of stress associated with both critical incident exposure as well as the chronic stress providers experience on a day-to-day basis.

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Crossref · 10.3109/10903127.2011.621044

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  • Controlling demographic factors and critical incident stress (i.e., PPTEs), organizational and operational stress retained a significant predictive relationship to posttraumatic stress.

    “Controlling demographic factors and critical incident stress (i.e., PPTEs), organizational and operational stress retained a significant predictive relationship to posttraumatic stress.”

    From Assessing the Relative Impact of Diverse Stressors among Public Safety Personnel (2020) · cites this paper as [31]

  • There is initial research from a large sample of EMS workers indicating that PSP-specific occupational stressors are uniquely associated with negative mental health after controlling for PPTE exposures.

    “There is initial research from a large sample of emergency medical services (EMS) workers indicating that such a relationship exists [31].”

    From Assessing the Relative Impact of Diverse Stressors among Public Safety Personnel (2020) · cites this paper as [31]

  • Operational stress was found to interact with critical incident stress (i.e., PPTEs) and alcohol use to further influence the risk of posttraumatic stress.

    “Additionally, operational stress was found to interact with critical incident stress (i.e., PPTEs) and alcohol use to further influence the risk of posttraumatic stress.”

    From Assessing the Relative Impact of Diverse Stressors among Public Safety Personnel (2020) · cites this paper as [31]

  • Previous research has supported the use of the operational and organizational constructs in a wide variety of PSP occupations, including police, firefighters, paramedics, and corrections.

    “Previous research has supported the use of the operational and organizational constructs in a wide variety of PSP occupations, including police [13,28,29], firefighters [30], paramedics [31], and corrections [32].”

    From Assessing the Relative Impact of Diverse Stressors among Public Safety Personnel (2020) · cites this paper as [31]

  • The PSQ-Org and PSQ-Op items are not specific to policing and can apply to other PSP professionals; the scales have been used successfully with a wide range of PSP.

    “Despite the scale titles, none of the items are specific to policing, such that each item can apply to other PSP professionals; indeed, the scales have been used successfully with a wide range of PSP [28,29,30,31,32].”

    From Assessing the Relative Impact of Diverse Stressors among Public Safety Personnel (2020) · cites this paper as [31]

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Authors
Donnelly, E.
Affiliations
University of Windsor (CA)
Corresponding author
Donnelly, Elizabeth
ORCID
Donnelly, Elizabeth
Venue
Prehospital Emergency Care
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2012-01
Volume
16
Issue
1
Pages
76-85
ISSN
  • 1090-3127 (ISSN-L)
  • 1545-0066
DOI
10.3109/10903127.2011.621044
OpenAlex
W2077334977
Cited by
146
References
63
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 4
FWCI
7.97
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Prehospital Emergency Care (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Performance
Keywords
occupational stress, posttraumatic stress symptoms, emergency medical personnel, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, organizational stress, critical incident stress, alcohol consumption
MeSH terms
Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Alcohol Drinking, Emergency Medical Services, Factor Analysis, Statistical, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Occupational Diseases, Psychometrics, Regression Analysis, Risk Factors, Statistics as Topic, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Stress, Psychological, United States, Occupational Exposure, Workplace

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