Overview
Monitoring the mental health of first responders (e.g., firefighters, police, healthcare professionals) has become an increasingly important issue as first responders are integral for a well-functioning of society. At work, first responders are exposed to hazards inherent in the nature of their jobs (e.g., exposure to death and injury, threats to personal safety) as well as job related hardships (e.g., long work hours, interrupted sleep). The high levels of stress associated with first responder jobs can have deleterious effects on mental health and well-being.
Existing research points to the severe stressors that first responders experience and the unhealthy/negative coping strategies they commonly use as primary contributing factors.
In addition, first-response organizations do not always play a positive role in development of effective coping strategies. The culture within these organizations can compound the stress experienced by first responders because of cultural stigmas related to expressing emotions (e.g., being afraid to appear weak). In short, the skills that make first responders good at their jobs, such as strength, decisiveness, and emotional control, can also keep them from coping with stress and seeking help. To date, our knowledge of stress and coping for first responders is limited in three ways:
1. Research does not adequately or comprehensively address when and where the most impactful stressors occur (e.g., intense and episodic operational stressors versus moderate and ongoing managerial issues).
2. Although a wide variety of coping strategies exist, there is no clear assessment of the coping strategies most commonly used by first responders, as well as whether different coping strategies are utilized for different stressors.
3. We know little about how the culture of the organization affects the coping process. Examining these issues will provide insight into why first responders have become an occupational group facing significantly increased risk of PTSD and suicide.
More precisely diagnosing the problem lays the groundwork for effective organizational interventions that can mitigate stressors, promote healthy coping, and ultimately increase the general well-being of first responders.
The research team has been collecting data since 2020, with a focus on firefighters in the United States. Although the term “firefighter” implies the specific job duty of fighting fires, firefighters in the US have many more responsibilities.
This means that many firefighters are more often involved in medical and other emergencies than they are with fire suppression. Calls to emergency services about heart attacks, car accidents, someone in a public place with a knife, or someone being washed away in a flood, for example, will dispatch firefighter crews.
In 2018, 64% of all fire emergencies involved medical crises marked by serious injuries, victim incidents, and death on arrival. Taken together, the job duties of firefighters involve a high level of traumatic and dangerous events that align their experiences with other first responders (e.g., police, EMTs, emergency medical staff) as well as military personnel.
As such, the implications for this project extend to the first responder community and should have a lasting positive impact on their lives and on the communities they serve.