A Vocation for Life on Land, Sea and Air - Health Assessment of Ambulance Workers

OBJECTIVES: Each aspect of prehospital emergency care places a different demand on the physical and mental health of workers. We aim to compare the stress and other risk factors of ground, air, water ambulance workers.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in August-October 2022. Non-random, convenience, data sampling was conducted on a voluntary basis, using an anonymous, online questionnaire at the ambulance stations of Hungarian National Ambulance Service (n=70), the bases of the Hungarian Air Rescue Nonprofit Ltd. (n=24) and the Hungarian Water Rescue Service (n=25). In addition to the Short Stress Questionnaire (Purebl et al., 2006), we asked about sociodemographic characteristics, work, harmful addictions, sports and mental health habits. SPSS 29.0 was used for descriptive and mathematical analyses, with a significance level set at p<0.05.

RESULTS: The stress load of the sample (N=119) was low (mean 9.79±5.38), unaffected by the work location (p=0.064). Ground ambulance workers reported the highest stress (10.17±5.57), while air ambulance workers reported the lowest (9.08±4.86). More than 50% of National Ambulance Service workers were in the "high" and "very high" stress categories (p=0.987). Higher stress levels were found among women (p=0.008), those living alone (p=0.006), and those without children (p<0.001). The more cases a respondent saw in a shift (p=0.008), the more stressful the shifts (p<0.001), and the less professionally prepared (p<0.001) a respondent felt, the higher their stress levels were.

CONCLUSIONS: There is no significant difference in the level of stress experienced by ambulance workers and the risk behaviors that occur on land - water and/or in the air. In terms of workload, ground ambulance workers require close monitoring of stress load and coping.