Accident toll on 999 crews

Staff said their welfare was not an issue

A third of ambulance workers suffer from mental health problems including post traumatic stress symptoms, according to a study.

The survey, by an unnamed Scottish ambulance service, looked at 110 staff and found that the majority felt they were not given enough time to recover after attending disturbing incidents.

The regular exposure to accidents and emergencies in the course of their work was gradually wearing down the survey's respondents.

Treating a child victim can cause problems

The study, which has been published in the January 2001 issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, was carried out by Professor David Alexander and Dr Susan Klein.

They said their aim was to identify the prevalence of psychiatric problems and its relationship to personality and exposure to critical incidents.

The study of personnel carrying out accident and emergency duties found that 32% had some form of psychopathology or mental disorder, compared with 18% in the general population.

Those questioned said that road traffic accidents and medical emergencies were the most disturbing incidents.

Disturbing incident

The most disturbance occurred when crews dealt with a child victim, knew the victim, felt helpless at the scene or had to cope with severe injuries.

The study found that 82% of those questioned had experienced a particularly disturbing incident in the past six months.

Sixty nine per cent of respondents said they never have time to recover emotionally between incidents, but 49% said that the more frequent their exposure to critical incidents, the better they coped with them.

Those with a "hardy" personality displayed less burnout, mental disorders and post-traumatic symptoms than the the less stoic.

One third of respondents said there was a need for better training and pre-incident briefing and 73% said the ambulance service was never concerned about staff welfare after critical incidents.