•There is limited research on the psychological wellbeing of female first responders (FRs).•This study explored potential indicators of burnout, psychological distress and post-traumatic stress ...disorders among Australian female FRs.•An online health survey of Australian female FRs was conducted.•The main outcomes of interest were moderate burnout (compared to low burnout) and high scores for combined K10/PCL-5 (compared to low scores).•The strongest indicators of burnout were: 1) returning to work with <12-hour break, 2) exposure to gossip and slander, 3) not enough time to do things, 4) and having experienced rape/sexual assault.•The strongest indicators of higher PCL-5/K10 scores were, 1) exposure to unpleasant teasing, 2) pressure at work and home, 3) having experienced physical violence (e.g., beaten/mugged), and 4) someone close to them died unexpectedly.•Overall these findings show workforce stressors have more impact on female FRs wellbeing, compared to lifetime traumatic exposures.
There is limited research on the psychological wellbeing of female first responders (FRs) and therefore we explore potential indicators of burnout, psychological distress and post-traumatic stress disorder among Australian female FRs. We conducted an online health survey among Australian female FRs (fire, police, paramedical, aeromedical, remote area and other e.g., State Emergency Service). Of the 422 eligible participants who submitted the online survey, 286 completed at least 80% of all survey questions and were used in the final analyses. The main outcomes of interest were moderate burnout (compared to low burnout) and high scores for combined PCL-5/K10 (compared to low scores). Using logistical regression stepwise regression models, we analysed associations between the outcomes of interest and various work-psychosocial factors. Results showed the strongest indicators of moderate burnout to be, 1) returning to work with <12-hour break, 2) exposure to gossip and slander, 3) not enough time to do things, 4) and having experienced rape/sexual assault. The strongest indicators of higher PCL-5/K10 scores were, 1) exposure to unpleasant teasing, 2) pressure at work and home, 3) having experienced physical violence (e.g., beaten/mugged), and 4) someone close to them died unexpectedly. These findings show workforce stressors have more impact on female FRs psychological wellbeing, compared to lifetime traumatic exposures.
Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) vibrating gyroscopes have gained a lot of attention over the last two decades because of their low power consumption, easy integration, and low fabrication ...cost. The usage of the gyroscope equipped with an inertial measurement unit has increased tremendously, with applications ranging from household devices to smart electronics to military equipment. However, reliability issues are still a concern when operating this inertial sensor in harsh environments, such as to control the movement and alignment of mini-satellites in space, tracking firefighters at an elevated temperature, and assisting aircraft navigation in gusty turbulent air. This review paper focuses on the key fundamentals of the MEMS vibrating gyroscopes, first discussing popular designs including the tuning fork, gimbal, vibrating ring, and multi-axis gyroscopes. It further investigates how bias stability, angle random walk, scale factor, and other performance parameters are affected in harsh environments and then discusses the reliability issues of the gyroscopes.
Reviews the Los Angeles Fire Department’s hiring practices as of June 2014 and outlines a recommended new firefighter hiring process that is intended to increase efficiency of the hiring process, ...bolster the evidence supporting the validity of it, and make it more transparent and inclusive.
Background: Firefighters have a higher prevalence of chronic diseases due to the relationship between a lack of knowledge and poor behaviours regarding physical activity (PA). The aim of the study ...was to determine the knowledge and behaviours regarding physical activity of firefighters in the City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue Service, as well as address the current dearth of literature on physical activity to decrease firefighters’ risk of chronic diseases. Design and Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 136 firefighters in the City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue Service. A researcher-generated self-administered questionnaire on the knowledge and behaviours regarding physical activity was completed online using Google Forms. Statistical significance was set at a p-value less than 0.05. Results: The results showed that 53% of firefighters had a poor knowledge of physical activity, and 47% had a good knowledge of physical activity, while 80% reported poor behaviours toward physical activity and 20% had good behaviours toward physical activity. There was a significant difference between firefighters’ knowledge of physical activity and their physical activity behaviour (p < 0.05), particularly related to marital status, age, and years of experience (p < 0.05). A safe environment was significantly associated with recreational PA (p < 0.05) and sleep behaviour was significantly associated with overall PA behaviour (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Firefighters knowledge about physical activity did not translate into better behaviours regarding PA. Education and behavioural interventions are warranted to increase firefighters’ knowledge of and improving their attitudes toward PA.
Time is the crucial factor in the “chain of survival” treatment concept for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). We aimed to measure different response time intervals by comparing emergency medical ...system (EMS), fire fighters and smartphone aided volunteer responders.
In two large Swedish regions, volunteer responders were timed from the alert until they arrived at the scene of the suspected OHCA. The first arriving volunteer responders who tried to fetch an automated external defibrillator (AED-responder) and who ran to perform bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR-responder) were compared to both the first arriving EMS and fire fighters. Three-time intervals were measured, from call to dispatch, the unit response time (from dispatch to arrival) and the total response time.
During 22 months, 2631 suspected OHCAs were included. The median time from call to dispatch was in minutes 1.8 (95% CI = 1.7–1.8) for EMS, 2.9 (95% CI = 2.8–3.0) for fire-fighters and 3.0 (95% CI = 2.9–3.1) for volunteer responders. The median unit response time was 8.3 (95% CI = 8.1–8.5) for EMS, 6.8 (95% CI = 6.7–6.9) for fire fighters and 6.0 (95% CI = 5.7–6.2) for AED-responders and 4.6 (95% CI = 4.5–4.8) for CPR-responders. The total response time was 10.4 (95% CI = 10.1–10.6) for EMS, 10.2 (95% CI = 9.9–10.4) for fire fighters, 9.6 (95% CI = 9.1–9.8) for AED-responders and 8.2 (95% CI = 8.0–8.3) for CPR-responders.
First arriving volunteer responders had the shortest unit response time when compared to both fire fighters and EMS, however this advantage was reduced by delays introduced at the dispatch center. Earlier automatic dispatch should be considered in further studies.
Using a multilevel framework, this study examined the role of empowering leadership at the group level by fire brigade captains in facilitating the individual level motivational processes that ...underpin work engagement in volunteer firefighters. Anonymous mail surveys were completed by 540 volunteer firefighters from 68 fire brigades and, separately, by 68 brigade captains. As predicted on the basis of the Job Demands-Resources model, increased levels of cognitive demands and cognitive resources partially mediated the relationship between empowering leadership and work engagement. In a three-way Leadership × Demands × Resources interaction, empowering leadership also had the effect of optimizing working conditions for engagement by strengthening the positive effect of a work context in which both cognitive demands and cognitive resources were high. Our findings shed light on a process through which leaders can empower workers and enhance well-being: via their influence on and interaction with the work environment. They also underscore the need to examine work engagement from a multilevel theoretical perspective.
The objective of this study was to systematically review health promotion interventions in the fire services. Four databases were searched for articles reporting on health promotion interventions for ...firefighters evaluated in randomised controlled trials (RCT) and measuring efficacy on health or lifestyle behaviour outcomes. Data were extracted to create a narrative synthesis regarding study design, intervention characteristics and impact on outcomes. Risk of bias was assessed using a 13-item tool. Of 448 papers identified, after removal of duplicates, 209 were excluded based on title/abstract screening. A further 60 papers were excluded, mostly due to studies not being RCTs, not including a lifestyle behaviour intervention, or not focusing on health or lifestyle behaviour outcomes. Ten studies (reported in 11 papers) were eligible for inclusion. Six studies compared an intervention to usual practice, one compared a full intervention to a minimal intervention, one compared two exercise programmes and two compared two interventions to usual practice. Four studies evaluated structured physical activity interventions. Five studies evaluated physical activity and diet-focused behaviour change programmes, and one study included a mindfulness programme. When assessing risk of bias, three studies had low risk ratings for >8/13 items, leaving seven studies with high-risk ratings for ≥5/13 items. Eight of the 10 studies reported improvements in at least 1 outcome from baseline to final follow-up in the intervention group over a comparison group. The majority of lifestyle behaviour interventions targeted physical activity and/or diet. Findings from included studies suggest that programmes for firefighters initiated in the workplace can improve some health outcomes.
Abstract
Background
Little is known about the multi-dimensional nature of traumatic duty-related events encountered by firefighters in relation to their post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) risk.
...Aims
To describe the types of duty-related events encountered by career firefighters and explore if years in the fire service or total event load moderated the association of trauma exposure to PTSD symptoms.
Methods
Participants included 755 career, male firefighters (19% of the department’s firefighters and 76% of those who accessed the electronic anonymous survey). The Duty-Related Incident Stressors scale was used to assess exposure to 25 potentially traumatic events (event load) and self-appraisal of the stress associated with these events, grouped by type of event (indirect, direct and colleague-related). The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist was used to assess PTSD symptoms.
Results
Firefighters rated colleague-related events as the most stressful, followed by indirect and direct events. Event load (r = 0.25) and indirect, direct and colleague-related events stress (r = 0.32–0.35) were positively associated with PTSD symptoms. Results of moderation analyses indicated that event load served as a risk factor in the relation of indirect events stress to PTSD symptoms, and as a buffer in the relation of direct events stress to PTSD symptoms. Years in the fire service were not associated with PTSD symptoms nor moderated the relation of event stress to PTSD symptoms.
Conclusions
Findings underscored the importance of considering the differential effects that types of duty-related traumatic events and cumulative exposure to trauma may have on firefighters’ PTSD symptoms.
The study described the types of duty-related potentially traumatic events experienced by career firefighters in a large urban city in the USA and examined the association of exposure to indirect, direct and colleague-related traumatic events to firefighters’ post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Findings point to the importance of considering the effect that exposure to different types of duty-related traumatic events may have on firefighters’ mental health and well-being.
Conventional wisdom suggests that repeated traumatic exposure should strongly relate to increased posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. However, research with first responders, who are ...repeatedly exposed to traumatic events, finds inconsistent links to PTSD. Although recent studies explored associations between general self-reported emotion-regulation and PTSD, the present study was the first to test the moderating role of regulatory choice flexibility, the ability to choose regulatory options that suit contextual demands. A total of 69 firefighters with differing duty-related traumatic-exposure were tested on an innovative performance-based regulatory choice flexibility paradigm and evaluated for PTSD symptoms using clinical interviews. We predicted and found that firefighters with low but not high regulatory choice flexibility showed a significant positive correlation between traumatic exposure and PTSD symptoms. This moderation was specific to PTSD symptoms and contributed above and beyond other well-established correlates of PTSD. The results suggest that regulatory choice flexibility can intersect the deleterious link between traumatic exposure and PTSD symptoms.
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