Trauma and first responders
[2] The presence of any mental health disorders in these individuals can also be associated with diminished ability to work efficiently, early retirement, substance abuse, and suicide.
[3][5][2] Individuals who are certified or have training in the field can typically provide advanced first aid care, CPR, and use an automated external defibrillator (AED).
These positions entail high levels of work related stress and repeated exposure to physical and psychological stressors.
These individuals are also exposed to the aftermath of disaster scenes during their jobs, and face an increased risk for encountering physical injuries and developing psychological distress.
[8] Firefighters may experience Repeated Exposure Trauma, as they are often faced with recurrent severe stress when responding to life-threatening incidents during which their goal is oftentimes to save lives.
[9] Search and Rescue personnel are also repeatedly exposed to direct and indirect stressors as they are always putting their own safety at risk in order to come to the aid of others.
[10] Search and Rescue personnel share similar occupational experiences with firefighters, and the severity and degree of trauma of events that these teams must respond to might have an impact upon these individual's emotional and mental health.
[12] In a study conducted by Regehr et al., researchers aimed to better understand by what processes do lasting effects take hold.
[14] Being at the beginning of the rescue chain, it is important that dispatchers are in good health to communicate vital information during critical phases of operations; errors can have serious consequences.
Police officers handle domestic violence and serious crimes; paramedics encounter gruesome injuries and dead bodies; firefighters rescue burn victims and trapped car crash victims; and search and rescue personnel encounter missing people, some of whom may be seriously injured or dead.
Dispatchers, who may not see or experience these themselves, may receive panicked emergency calls or first responder transmissions, and may find themselves unable to help despite hearing trouble.
[16] First responders have a high emotional impact when dealing with trauma due to the fact they don't allow their feelings to interfere with their jobs.
[17] PTSD is characterized by, "exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence" either directly or indirectly, intrusion, persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the event, negative alterations in cognitions and mood, and marked alterations in arousal and reactivity following a traumatic experience.
[18][19] Symptoms must last longer than one month, cause clinically significant distress in social or occupational functioning, and not be attributed to other conditions or substances.
"[2] Other barriers associated with under reporting are a lack of knowledge of where to receive treatment, scheduling concerns, and fear regarding confidentiality.
[21] Additionally, the type of trauma, the first responder's personality traits, and their level of social support play an important role in the development of post-traumatic stress symptoms.
[3] Risk factors presented for law enforcement include “proximity to the event, type of incident, occupational stressors, neuroticism, introversion, and poor coping skills.”[3] Firefighters who display high levels of “hostility, low self-esteem, neuroticism, previous trauma, and a lack of social support” are more at risk for developing PTSD.
[21] Suicide is considered high risk in law enforcement officers, but is not solely related to the exposure to a traumatic event.
[28] Among law enforcement officers, “chronic pain, cardiovascular problems, arthritis, substance use, depression, anxiety, and suicide” present comorbid with PTSD.
[3] Similarly, firefighters experience “cardiovascular disease, respiratory problems, depression, acute stress disorder, interpersonal difficulties, substance abuse, and suicide.”[3] Lastly, dispatchers can present with high cortisol and higher burnout rates with a PTSD diagnosis.
Prior to entering a first responder career, there is some evidence that screening can occur to help predict and train certain people who may have predictors of developing PTSD.
These factors included things like: their psychiatric history, trauma exposure, neuroticism, perceived resilience to stress, and depressive attributions.
During this two-year study, it was determined that first responders who were at risk for developing PTSD or major depression could be identified within the first week of their training.
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a relatively new treatment that's been found to reduce the symptoms of PTSD.
CISD was developed as part of program called Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) which includes individual counseling, pre-exposure interventions, family support and referral for further therapy.
[39] Although CISD is commonly practiced with police officers, firefighters, and paramedics, this treatment has been associated with an increased risk of PTSD and alteration of memories of the traumatic event, therefore is not recommended.
It helps healthcare workers with post-traumatic stress symptoms or chronic pain.It further gives easy access to specialist services, saves time by not going to the doctor's office, cost effective, better continuity of care, and allows for a private form treatment, protecting your information.
