Promoting Emergency Service Workers’ Resilience: Resources and Coping Strategies

Abstract

Emergency service workers are exposed to many stressors during their work that can lead to pressure, strain and other negative consequences. If they recover after traumatic events and do not show long-term negative consequences, this is referred to as resilience. Certain individual, institutional, and social resources and strategies are key factors that influence people's ability to cope successfully. However, those specific resources and coping strategies that can enhance resilience have not yet been studied in detail among emergency service workers, even though they are exposed to various impacts on a daily basis. The present study investigated a total of 774 emergency service workers operating in Germany. It used well-established questionnaires designed to investigate resources, coping styles, and resilience, and multiple linear regression analysis was performed on the responses. The results indicate that emergency service workers are exposed to stressors, especially on the institutional level. However, they possess personal, social, and institutional resources and coping strategies that enhance resilience. Personal resources like self-efficacy and ambiguity tolerance prove to be the strongest predictors of emergency service workers’ resilience. Problem-focused coping is found to increase resilience, whereas emotion-oriented coping seems to be related negatively. Measures that increase resilience should be included in education and training, as is discussed in the practical implications. Training materials such as learning games support the development of ambiguity tolerance and self-efficacy of emergency service personnel while stress tests for organizations enhance the operating capabilities of emergency organizations even.