Exploring the psychological health of emergency dispatch centre operatives: a systematic review and narrative synthesis

Abstract

BackgroundThe study objective was to investigate and synthesize available evidence relating to the psychological health of Emergency Dispatch Centre (EDC) operatives, and to identify key stressors experienced by EDC operatives.MethodsEight electronic databases (Embase, PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, PsycInfo, PsycArticles, The Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection, and Google Scholar) were searched. All study designs were included, and no date limits were set. Studies were included if they were published in English, and explored the psychological health of any EDC operatives, across fire, police, and emergency medical services. Studies were excluded if they related solely to other emergency workers, such as police officers or paramedics. Methodological quality of included studies was assessed using checklists adapted from the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme. A narrative synthesis was conducted, using thematic analysis.ResultsA total of 16 articles were included in the review. Two overarching themes were identified during the narrative synthesis: ‘Organisational and Operational Factors’ and ‘Interactions with Others’. Stressors identified included being exposed to traumatic calls, lacking control over high workload, and working in under-resourced and pressured environments. Lack of support from management and providing an emotionally demanding service were additional sources of stress. Peer support and social support from friends and family were helpful in managing work-related stress.DiscussionEDC operatives experience stress as a result of their work, which appears to be related to negative psychological health outcomes. Future research should explore the long-term effects of this stress, and the potential for workplace interventions to alleviate the negative impacts on psychological health.PROSPERO Registration NumberCRD42014010806.

The effects of emergency medical service work on the psychological, physical, and social well-being of ambulance personnel: a systematic review of qualitative research

“…1). The studies were conducted in a range of countries including the United States of America (n = 9) [9,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26], Australia (n = 8) [10,[27][28][29][30][31][32][33], Canada (n = 6) [34][35][36][37][38][39], Sweden (n = 5) [40][41][42][43][44], the England (n = 4) [44][45][46][47][48], Ireland (n = 2) [49,50], Norway (n = 2) [11,51], Saudi Arabia (n = 1) [52], and Israel (n = 1) [53]. Another study was conducted in both Australia and the United Kingdom [54].…”

“…Another study was conducted in both Australia and the United Kingdom [54]. Of the 39 articles, the majority were deemed to be primary research articles (n = 26) [20, 21, 25-30, 34, 35, 37-42, 44-46, 48-50, 52-54] with the remainder being either non-systematic literature reviews (n = 9) [9, 19, 20, 22-24, 31, 32, 36, 43] or systematic literature reviews (n = 4) [11,43,47,51]. Of the primary research studies, the most common data collection method was semi-structured interviews (n = 11) [26, 27, 40-42, 44-46, 49, 51, 53].…”

“…An increase in vigilance and fear of doing the required role, and recognition of associated triggers, unwanted and unpredictable flashbacks or intrusive thoughts, fatigue, stress, high rates of sickness and days absent, and difficulty switching off were significant [9,11,24,25,27,31,34,36,39,46,50]. The high and increasing rates of depression and anxiety, and associated development of PTS and suicidal ideation [9,11,19,20,22,23,25,34,40,41,47,52] were clearly outlined as current and systemic issues faced by paramedics and calltakers, with rates estimated as being twice as high as other health professionals [24,25,28,30,36,39,46,47].…”

Specialist call handlers’ perspectives on providing help on a cancer helpline: A qualitative interview study

“…It seemed, on the whole, that this approach was something call handlers learnt to do over time with experience. Still, with so many challenges outlined, the risk of vicarious trauma needs greater understanding and attention in the literature (Howe, 2015), especially with evidence suggesting call handlers can indeed experience trauma vicariously (Golding, Horsfield, & Davies, 2017). Call handlers were keen to have continued training and support, recognising its importance for supporting them as well as ensuring sound quality control: staff had mixed views on the adequacy of support available.…”

“…ies created by not having access to key non-verbal communication,can limit call handler's ability to advise or to feel they can fully meet caller expectations. Still, with so many challenges outlined, the risk of vicarious trauma needs greater understanding and attention in the literature(Howe, 2015), especially with evidence suggesting call handlers can indeed experience trauma vicariously(Golding, Horsfield, & Davies, 2017). It was also generally the case that managing caller's expectations felt difficult.…”