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

J Trauma Stress. 1998 Oct;11(4):821-8. doi: 10.1023/A:1024461920456.

Abstract

Little is known about the variables that might be associated with posttraumatic stress symptomatology in high-risk occupational groups such as professional firefighters and paramedics. A sample of 173 urban professional firefighter/EMT's and firefighter/paramedics rated and ranked the stressfulness of 33 actual and/or potential duty-related incident stressors. They also reported whether they had experienced each of these incident stressors within the past 6 months and, if they had, to recall on how many occasions within the past 6 months. A principal components analysis of their rescaled incident stressor ratings yielded five components: Catastrophic Injury to Self or Co-worker, Gruesome Victim Incidents, Render Aid to Seriously Injured, Vulnerable Victims, Minor Injury to Self and Death & Dying Exposure.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Emergency Medical Technicians / psychology*
  • Female
  • Fires*
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Male
  • Occupational Diseases / etiology*
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / epidemiology
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / psychology*
  • Stress, Psychological*
  • Urban Population