The psychosocial experience of emergency medical services personnel and how this affect their lives

Abstract

Background: The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has been in existence since 1972 (Boyd & Cowley, 1983). It started improving in the 1980s due to the changes in infrastructure of the roads and the lifestyles of South Africans. This gave birth to the review of EMS and the scope of practice for all EMS personnel. As accidents started increasing so did the level of training and the scope of practice widened. EMS evolved to a level where Advanced Life Support (ALS) are allowed to do certain procedures that doctors do and even administer medication as high as schedule 6 and 7. Aims: To establish the psychosocial experiences of EMS personnel in the context of a developing rural area. Method: A survey-based questionnaire was implemented to assess levels of wellness, stress vulnerability and impact of events in the line of duty. Two hundred participants were selected for the study on the basis of availability. Informed consent was obtained from the Head of Department in the Provincial Department of Health, participants and the North West University. Results: The results that show that there is some form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the working environment of EMS personnel as they are exposed to different kinds of affecters. There stress level within EMS in the North West provinces yielded 31 % of the respondents suffering from high stress and 50% of the respondents suffering from moderate stress. This shows that personnel in EMS in deed suffer from stress. Conclusion: The level of stress in EMS should be given the urgent attention that it warrants as EMS personnel are the first to respond to emergency scenes. They are the first people that the patient comes into contact with before the patients are taken to hospital. EMS personnel should be in the right frame mind to take appropriate decisions regarding the treatment of patients which would determine whether such patients live or die.