Controlling and Uncontrollable: Social Support and Stress in EMS

• In Event: 50220 - Section on Organizations, Occupations, and Work Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 13: Health and Wellbeing

Abstract

Work-related stress in Emergency Medical Services is inherent, given the nature of the work. What is not yet fully galvanized, is the role of social support to combat the stress experienced in this occupation. The role of social support has been studied within high stress occupations, with mixed evidence of a buffering effect. This study seeks to evaluate the mechanisms of social support in EMS and similarly high-stress occupations. This study interviewed 20 currently practicing EMS providers and asked how they and their coworkers navigate the stress they experience. Several examples of work-related stress and social support received revealed themes of control, with stress experiences being uncontrolled through inherent traits of the EMS occupation and that stress being controlled by specific EMS work-informed social support. The findings suggest that the most effective social support to control work-related stress is work-informed social support, whether by a current/former worker in that occupation, or by a mental health provider with intimate knowledge of the work involved in that field. These findings may lead to future considerations for the study of stress and social support that take into account the detailed social support required for work-related stress, studying across more and varied occupational fields.

Author

• Christopher M Bosley, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill