Recently risky accidents and disasters are occurred more frequently. In a emergency situation sometimes emergency service firefighters should fulfil their mission to save citizens's lives and assets in spite of dangerous and miserable environment. Man...
Recently risky accidents and disasters are occurred more frequently. In a emergency situation sometimes emergency service firefighters should fulfil their mission to save citizens's lives and assets in spite of dangerous and miserable environment. Many emergency service firefighters have a lot of job stress. Even some of them come to have unhappiness having a PTSD(post-traumatic stress disorder) symptoms.
So a lot of effective and good policy should be made at once to diminish PTSD symptoms and to enhance the psychological wellbeing. In this context, this study was planned and executed. Author wanted to know about the relationship between mobilization impacts, social supports, coping behaviors and PTSD symptoms & psychological wellbeing in emergency service firefighters. Author carried out this study by literature and Questionnaire survey. Survey target group was emergency service firefighters who are working at fire stations in three didtricts such as Seoul City, Incheon City and Namwon city. After survey, Author analyzed 504 cases of firefighters. Two types of statistical packages such as SPSS 14.0, AMOS 7.0, and statistical methods such as reliability test, factor analysis(validity analysis), frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, ANOVA, cross-tabs analysis, correlation analysis, t-test, Cramer's V statistics, multiple regression analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis by structural equation modelling analysis.
Result are as follows:
The level of PTSD symptoms of firefighters was not ignorable. The level of PTSD symptoms can be reduced by the suitable social supports. Expecially informational support was powerful factor to impact the level of social support. In this context, we should use informational support more frequently and effectively. Among impact factors to the PTSD symptoms, mobilization impacts and coping behaviors were powerful factors to exacerbate the level of PTSD symptoms. And event impacts were most powerful factor to increase the level of mobilization impacts. So in order to reduce the level of PTSD symptoms by mobilization impacts, we should adopt a policy to reduce miserable disasters. Also life incidents which are related with PTSD symptoms should be reduced by a lot of family policies mix. And we should restore family function which is at once a origin of stress reducer and a lifter of psychological wellbeing.
Unexpectedly, coping behaviors which are used by firefighters were not helpful to reduce the level of PTSD symptoms. Coping behavior should be used in direction to curtail the level of PTSD symptoms and to ameliorate PTSD symptoms. Among coping behaviors, problem oriented coping behaviors were most powerful factors to impact PTSD symptoms. So we should use problem oriented coping behaviors more frequently in direction to help PTSD symptoms.
Most import thing to ameliorate the level of PTSD symptoms is accurate assessment of impact factor of PTSD symptoms. So, professionalist such as psychiatric doctor, psychological therapist, social worker of mental health should be participated in assessing and prescribing PTSD symptoms of firefighters. And persistent interviewing and intervention by specialist should be followed.
In this context, I want to recommend some policies such as sabbatical year, risk allowances, life wage to achieve some specific standard of living, expansion of public insurance device such as law of industrial disaster compensation insurance, practice of systematic prevention and management program about PTSD symptoms, establishment of public PTSD center, expansion of public investment to the research & development to ameliorate PTSD symptoms.