Secondary traumatic stress in fire fighters because of the interaction with the victims.

Abstract 

Generally, when any type of disaster or catastrophe occurs, be it of natural or human origin, there is much talk about the number of victims and deaths, the magnitude of infrastructure and material goods affected, the economic amounts lost in the event, etc. In the same way, much has been said and written about the psychological impact on victims and the community exposed to such an event. However, there is a type of hidden victims that, in many cases, tend to go unnoticed, perhaps in part because of their resistance to accepting that they are also vulnerable. I am referring to the members of the first response teams in emergencies (fire, police, health, etc.). The presence of the scene, the proximity to the deadly victims and the interaction with the survivors, as well as the work in highly toxic atmospheres or of great risk for the physical integrity, together with problems of organizational, familiar or interpersonal type, will exert a strong impact on these troops, with possible repercussions on their physical and mental health. Moreover, they can be factors of vulnerability to suffer more or less severe episodes of Acute Stress, Post Traumatic Stress and Secondary Traumatic Stress, among others. In the present work an approximation is made to the Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) construct, a type of emerging labor condition in the professionals who develop their tasks of help and rescue with people exposed to critical incidents or vital events, as is the case of the Firefighter Departments. Factors such as the history of personal traumas, the organizational context, the characteristics of the intervention and the individual personality, will significantly condition the capacity of resistance to the traumas in the professionals of the Fire Services. 

Key notes: emotional trauma, secondary traumatic stress, resistant personality, firefighter, critical incident.

4^th International Conference on Depression, Anxiety and Stress Management

Cita:  Senabre, J. (2018). Secondary traumatic stress in fire fighters because of the interaction with the victims. In Journal of Depression and Anxiety 2018, Volume 7, pp 69-70. DOI: 10.4172/2167-1044-C1-005  ISSN: 2167-1044

 https://www.omicsonline.org/proceedings/secondary-traumatic-stress-in-fire-fighters-because-of-the-interaction-with-the-victims-85539.html

 https://www.omicsonline.org/conference-proceedings/2167-1044-C1-005-016.pdf

Modulating effect of hardiness in the development of emotional trauma in firefighters trapped in forest fire.

Abstract

Some authors have pointed out that the individuals with resistant personality deal with stressful situations in an active and committed way, perceiving them as less threatening. Also, we know that stress acts as a mediator in the predisposition, precipitation or exacerbation of the disease. Emergency services professionals are often confronted with numerous critical incidents that are likely to break into their lives and cause them to suffer, often because of their surprising nature. The traumatic experience is pointed out as one of the most revealing sources of deep discomfort. The aim of this study is to determine if the resistant personality or hardiness plays a role as a modulator of the stress experience and, more specifically, the development of posttraumatic stress. To this end, we evaluated a sample of firefighters, who were surprised by the fire in an entrapment situation during the extinction of a forest fire in the province of Alicante (Spain) and that had a fatal outcome for some of the emergency device personnel. The results indicate that 37.5% of the sample developed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at the clinical level after the month of the incident and 25% some type of posttraumatic symptomatology (PTSD sub-syndrome); the remaining 37.5% were not emotionally affected by that stress experience. On the other hand, the dispersion analysis shows a tendency to the appearance of PTSD as the hardiness decreases (figure 1). These results support the idea that resistant personality can play a modulating role in the development of emotional trauma. The dimensions of the construct, implication and challenge, seem to have a greater role in this stress modulating process, being the influence of control more contained. In the discussion, emphasis is given on the need for specialized evaluation and follow up after the experience of a critical incident of these characteristics, as well as the design of training actions aimed at the development of knowledge, skills, abilities and psychological skills in professionals belonging to the different emergency services, and more specifically, firefighters.

 https://www.omicsonline.org/proceedings/modulating-effect-of-hardiness-in-the-development-of-emotional-trauma-in-firefighters-trapped-in-forest-fire-85033.html

4^th International Conference on Mental Health and Human Resilience

Cita:  Senabre, J. (2018). Modulating effect of hardiness in the development of emotional trauma in firefighters trapped in forest fire. In International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience 2018, Volume 20, pp 52. DOI: 10.4172/1522-4821-C1-011. ISSN: 1522-4821.

https://www.omicsonline.org/conference-proceedings/1522-4821-C1-011-011.pdf