Paramedics more likely to suffer post-traumatic stress

[owley medic]

This is a article that appeared in recent news papers. I thought it might be of interest.

Owley

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Paramedics more likely to suffer post-traumatic stress, says Canadian study

The Canadian Press(CP)

Copyright 2006 Press News Limited

DARTMOUTH, N.S.- Paramedics are at an increased risk of suffering from post-traumatic stress, but not enough is known about how best to help them cope, an emergency medical services conference heard Friday.

The first phase of a three-year study into the stress of first-responders was presented at the Emergency Medical Services Chiefs of Canada conference in Dartmouth, N.S., on Friday.

The study is looking at prevention and management of post-traumatic stress disorder.

While post-traumatic stress affects seven to eight per cent of the general population, it's up to three times more likely among paramedics, lead researcher Vince Savoia said.

The Tema Conter Memorial Trust called for and funded the study, now entering its second year.

Little information has been available on the best course of treatment for acute and long-term emergency personnel stress, said Savoia, who is also the trust's founder and executive director.

And suggestions for coping are often questioned.

For example, Savoia said there is little agreement over whether it's better to immediately debrief a responding medic or if doing so would simply serve to repeat the trauma.

Savoia, a former paramedic, said one bad call can stay with you for life.

"It's a reality of the industry and of the profession," Graham McAllister of Nova Scotia's Emergency Health Services said of on-the-job stress.

"I think all responders, when they respond to these tragic types of incidents, suffer from post-traumatic stress every day. It's a matter how you manage that stress and how you cope."

McAllister, a 20-year paramedic, manages the service's critical incident stress management program.

The peer-support program helps responders deal with the trauma of being involved with other people's traumas all day, he said.

"A lot of times people will assume because you're a paramedic in emergency services, 'Well, you deal with that; that's just what you do; so it shouldn't affect you,' but the reality is that we're all just human beings just like anyone else," McAllister said.

"It's a normal reaction by normal people to an abnormal situation."

The first phase of the study used Toronto paramedics for its sample, but Savoia said the work would be applicable for any part of the country.

Research co-ordinator Paulette Brazeau hopes to expand the sample with a web-based questionnaire and produce results for a general standard of intervention across Canada by the end of 2007.

For now, she said, emergency medical personnel need to be aware of how common stress is and how important it is to deal with it immediately.

[spenac]

Research co-ordinator Paulette Brazeau hopes to expand the sample with a web-based questionnaire and produce results for a general standard of intervention across Canada by the end of 2007.

Did this happen? If so what results?

[firedoc5]

HHMM, The first words that come to mine is, "DUH". Back in my day we didn't have meetings or debriefings or any kind of support. Now there is. It was recognized about ten years ago when they realized this was creeping up on guys/ gals. I can't think how many times I would be having a down point and nothing to fall back on. Who knows, if it wasn't for my body giving out, I might still be in the field.

[DwayneEMTP]

Probably a silly question...but is 'first responder' and 'paramedic' synonymous in Canada?

Just commenting that it said the study was of first responders yet relates the conclusions to paramedics...

Dwayne

[JPINFV]

I think you're misunderstanding the term. First responders are the people who first respond to an emergency. In general, the term encompasses EMS, fire, and police personnel and is different from the training level of "[Medical] First Responder."

[Dustdevil]

It's a pretty silly use of the term though. I mean, after all, who the hell responds after us? It's a dubious honour, sort of like being valedictorian in a class of one.

[JPINFV]

It's a pretty silly use of the term though. I mean, after all, who the hell responds after us? It's a dubious honour, sort of like being valedictorian in a class of one.

I see what you did there...

[Scaramedic]

It's a pretty silly use of the term though. I mean, after all, who the hell responds after us?

Tow truck drivers?

If this creates more CISD or group hugs crap I am going to have find a tower and take out some PTSD ala Charles Whitman.:evil:

[Richard B the EMT]

It's a pretty silly use of the term though. I mean, after all, who the hell responds after us? It's a dubious honour, sort of like being valedictorian in a class of one.

Would you qualify the Red Cross and Salvation Army "Canteen" trucks, the Red Cross relocation crews, and, as in the case of the World Trade Center, the construction workers, the construction equipment operators, the "Feds" like the FBI, FEMA, EPA, and the military, as "Second Responders"?.

For all of the Feds to get in, they have to be requested by local or state authorities, so perhaps they should be considered as tertiary responders? Just wondering out loud, with no disrespect intended for the military, and disrespect intended for the EPA.

There is nothing wrong with coming in second in a race, unless there were only 2 participants.

[Dustdevil]

Let's not forget IMERT!!