Stress and Mental Health Concerns of Emergency Dispatchers in the Tarrant County 9-1-1 District

• In Event: On the Front Lines: Mental Health and Stress in Policing and Emergency Dispatch

Abstract

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 83% of workers in the United States reported suffering from work-related stress, and 54% of workers reported that stress affects their home life. Work-related stress, mental health, and physical health problems are not uncommon among sworn law enforcement personnel, but emergency dispatchers are also susceptible to these problems given their unique role. Emergency dispatchers receive and provide timely communication with the community and field responders and often serve as the first link in the chain of survival in dangerous situations (Miller et al., 2017). In addition to working in a fast paced environment, emergency dispatchers also experience traumatic incidents indirectly through repetitive and extreme exposure to aversive details surrounding various incidents (Steinkopf et al., 2018). The presentation will examine the relationship between occupational stressors and compassion fatigue (i.e., burnout and secondary trauma) among a sample of emergency dispatchers in the Tarrant 9-1-1 District in Tarrant County, Texas.

Authors

• Sofia Brabham, Tarleton State University

• Tara O'Connor Shelley, Tarleton State University