Working in prehospital emergency contexts. Stress, coping and support from the perspective of ambulance personnel

• Date: 21 November 2019
• Published date: 21 November 2019
• Pages: 469-482
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWHM-01-2019-0004
• Author: Ana Cristina Oliveira,Félix Neto,Filipa Teixeira,Ângela Maia
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Healthcare management,Hr & organizational behaviour,Human resource policy,Employee welfare

Working in prehospital

emergency contexts

Stress, coping and support from the

perspective of ambulance personnel

Ana Cristina Oliveira and Félix Neto

Faculty of Psychology and Education Science,

University of Porto, Porto, Portugal, and

Filipa Teixeira and Ângela Maia

Research Center for Psychology, School of Psychology,

University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

Abstract

Purpose –Ambulance personnel face a diversity of stressful events that could be potentially traumatic,

putting their health and well-being at risk. The purpose of this paper is to explore, from this group

perspective, sources of stress, coping strategies and support measures.

Design/methodology/approach –The authorsinterviewed 14 ambulanceworkers of PortugueseRed Cross

local structuresfrom the north of Portugal. Data were analyzed according to thematic analysis procedures.

Findings –The authors identified three themes: operational and organizational factors, control and

predictability; anticipating scenarios, focusing on procedures and dealing with reactions; and from unde rvalued

support to support as routine. Dealing wit h human lives, the unpredictability of calls a nd working under

pressure are the main sources of stress, causing, in some of them, insomnia, fatigue, anxiety and intrusive

thoughts. Road accidents, situations involving children and cardiac arrest are the most distressing events.

Duringevents, they cope focusingon technicalprocedures, but afterthem they prefer totalk with colleaguesand

seeksupport from familyand friends. All participantsemphasizethe inexistenceof structured supportmeasures.

Practical implications –It is important to develop support measures tailored to ambulance personnel’s

needs, leading to enhancements of theirs work performance, health and well-being.

Originality/value –Contrarily to most of the studies that explore mostly PTSD and/or burnout, the authors

explored, from the perspective of professionals, other dimensions such as sources of stress, coping strategies

and support measures, adopting a qualitative approach, which has been rarely used.

Keywords Coping, Stress, Support, Ambulance personnel

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

Professionals who work in the prehospital emergency context are exposed to stressful events,

involving unpredictable situations, human suffering, pain and death (Alexander and Klein, 2001;

Regehr et al., 2002). On a daily basis, ambulance personnel assist cardiac arrests, situations of

physical trauma, work and domestic accidents, falls, dyspnea, alcohol poisoning, trampling,

births and psychiatric emergencies. They also provide assistance in cultural and sports events,

and deal with fake calls and refusal of transportation to the health unit by the victim.

Ambulance personnel are expected to be able to handle chaotic and dangerous scenarios

without losing their composure (Boudreaux and Mandry, 1995). The recurrent exposure to high

levels of stress can cause sequelae in their physical and mental health, which may negatively

affect the quality of assistance provided by them (Bennet et al., 2005).

Sources of stress and its impact

Ambulance personnel can feel stress not only from emergency situations, called acute stress

factors, but also from workplace and organization conditions, known as chronic stress

factors. Acute factors can be disturbing and potentially traumatic incidents also known

International Journal of Workplace

Health Management

Vol. 12 No. 6, 2019

pp. 469-482

© Emerald PublishingLimited

1753-8351

DOI 10.1108/IJWHM-01-2019-0004

Received 10 January 2019

Revised 20 January 2019

30 April 2019

Accepted 27 September 2019

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

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Working in

prehospital

emergency

contexts