Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-x4r87 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T15:30:37.169Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Effects of Stressors on Emergency Medical Technicians (Part II): A Critical Review of the Literature, and a Call for Further Research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Edwin Boudreaux  and
Cris Mandry
Edwin Boudreaux*
Affiliation:
Louisiana State University School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana
Cris Mandry
Affiliation:
Louisiana State University, Department of Psychology, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
*
1460 Nantahala Blvd., Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Part I of this series of articles about stress among emergency medical technicians (EMTs) reviewed the potential sources of EMT stress. This article investigates the other side of the stress equation and provides a critical review of the empirical literature on the effects of stressors on EMTs. It is subdivided into sections corresponding to trends in the research, including: 1) predictors of higher stress levels; 2) differences in stress responses among EMTs, other health professionals, and firefighters; and 3) various physiologic, psychologic, and job performance responses. It identifies some of the methodologic flaws found in the EMT-stress literature that are noted in Part I, and provides further direction for future research. To maintain homogeneity, this review is limited to those articles published in scholarly journals. Studies investigating constructs such as job dissatisfaction and burnout were not included unless the study also included a measure of stress or stressors.

Keywords

emergency medical technicianparamedicstress, occupational stressreactionsreview
Type
Collective Review
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , December 1996 , pp. 302 - 307
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Boudreaux, E, Mandry, C: Sources of stress among emergency medical technicians: What does the research say? Prehospital and Disaster Medicine 1996;11:294–298.Google ScholarPubMed
2. Cydulka, RK, Lyons, J, Moy, A, et al. : A follow-up report of occupational stress in urban EMT-paramedics. Ann Emerg Med 1989;18:1151–1156.Google Scholar
3. Grigsby, DW, McKnew, MA: Work-stress burnout among paramedics. Psych Rep 1988;63:55–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4. Schwartz, RJ, Benson, L, Jacobs, LM: The prevalence of occupational injuries in EMTs in New England. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine 1993;8:45–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5. Jamner, LD, Shapiro, D, Goldstein, IB, Hug, R: Ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate in paramedics: Effects of cynical hostility and defensiveness. Psychosom Med 1991;53:393–406.Google Scholar
6. Cydulka, RK, Emerman, CL, Shade, B, Kubincanek, J: Stress levels in EMS personnel: A longitudinal study with work-schedule modification. Acad Emerg Med 1994;1:240–246.Google Scholar
7. Revicki, DA, Whidey, TW, Landis, SS, Allison, EJ: Organizational characteristics, occupational stress, and depression in rural emergency medical technicians. J Rural Health 1988;4:73–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8. Revicki, DA, May, HJ, Whitley, TW: Reliability and validity of the Work-Related Strain Inventory among health professionals. Behav Med 1991;Fall:111–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9. Whitley, TW, Revicki, DA, Allison, EJ, Landis, SS: The rural EMT and work-related stress. Emerg Med Serv 1988;17:61–64.Google Scholar
10. Beaton, RD, Murphy, SA: Sources of occupational stress among firefighter/EMTs and firefighter/paramedics and correlations with job-related outcomes. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine 1993;8:140–150.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11. Mitchell, JT: The 600-run limit. Journal of Emergency Medical Services 1984;9:52–54.Google Scholar
12. Brownstone, JE, Shatoff, DK, Duckro, PN: Reducing stress factors in EMS: Report of a national survey. Emerg Health Serv Rev 1983;2:35–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13. Hammer, JS, Matthews, JJ, Lyons, JS, Johnson, NJ: Occupational stress within the paramedic profession: An initial report of stress levels compared to hospital employees. Ann Emerg Med 1986;15:536–539.Google Scholar
14. Neale, AV: Work stress in emergency medical technicians. J Occup Med 1991;33:991–997.Google Scholar
15. Dutton, LM, Smolensky, MH, Leach, CS, et al. : Stress levels of ambulance paramedics and firefighters. J Occup Med 1978;20:111–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16. Goldstein, IB, Jamner, LD, Shapiro, D: Ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate in healthy male paramedics during a workday and a non-workday. Health Psych 1992;11:48–54.Google Scholar
17. Jones, JW: The Burnout Syndrome: Current Research, Theory, Interventions. Park Ridge, IL, London House Press, 1982.Google Scholar
18. Maslach, C, Jackson, SE: The Maslach Burnout Inventory Manual, 2d ed, Palo Alto, CA, Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc, 1981.Google Scholar
19. American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Ed, Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 1994.Google Scholar
20. Durham, TW, McCammon, SL, Allison, EJ: The psychological impact of disaster on rescue personnel. Ann Emerg Med 1985;14:664–667.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21. Fullerton, CS, McCarroll, JE, Ursano, RJ, Wright, KM: Psychological responses of rescue workers: Fire fighters and trauma. Am J Orthopsychiat 1992;62:371–378.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22. MacFarlane, AC: The longitudinal course of posttraumatic morbidity: The range of outcomes and their predictors. J Nerv Ment Dis 1988;176:30–39.Google Scholar
23. MacFarlane, AC: The aetiology of post-traumatic morbidity: Predisposing, precipitating, and perpetuating factors. Brit J Psychiatry 1989;154:221–228.Google Scholar
24. Miles, MS, Demi, AS, Mostyn-Aker, P: Rescue workers' reactions following the Hyatt Hotel disaster. Death Educ 1984;8:315–331.Google Scholar
25. Raphael, B, Singh, B, Bradbury, L, Lambert, F: Who helps the helpers? The effects of a disaster on the rescue workers. Omega 1983;84;14:9–20.Google Scholar
26. Wilkinson, CB: Aftermath of a disaster: The collapse of the Hyatt Regency Hotel skywalks. Am J Psychiat 1983;140:1134–1139.Google ScholarPubMed
27. Weiss, DS, Marmar, CR, Metzler, TJ, Ronfeldt, HM: Predicting symptomatic distress in emergency services personnel. J Consult Clin Psychol 1995;63:361–368.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
28. Allison, EJ, Whitley, TW, Revicki, DA, Landis, SS: Specific occupational satisfaction and stresses that differentiate paid and volunteer EMTs. Ann Emerg Med 1987;16:676–679.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
29. Hammer, JS, Jones, JW, Lyons, JS, et al. : Measurement of occupational stress in hospital settings: Two validity studies of a measure of self-reported stress in medical emergency rooms. Gen Hosp Psychiatry 1985;7:156–162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed