Abstract
BackgroundStress at work has been broadly acknowledged as a worldwide problem and has been the focus of concern for many researchers. Firefighting, in particular, is frequently reported as a highly stressful occupation. In order to investigate firefighters’ occupational health in terms of stress events, perceptions, symptoms, and physiological reactions under real-world conditions, an ambulatory assessment protocol was developed.MethodsSeventeen firefighters’ cardiac signal was continuously monitored during an average of three shifts within a working week with medical clinically certified equipment (VitalJacket®), which allows for continuous electrocardiogram (ECG) and actigraphy measurement. Psychological data were collected with a software application running on smartphones, collecting potential stressful events, stress symptoms, and stress appraisal.ResultsA total of 450.56 h of medical-quality ECG were collected, and heart rate variability (HRV) analysis was performed. Findings suggest that although ‘fire’ situations are more common, ‘accidents’ are more stressful. Additionally, firefighters showed high levels of physiological stress (based on AVNN and LF/HF HRV metrics) when compared to normative healthy population values that may not be diagnosed using merely self-reports.DiscussionThe proposed ambulatory study seems to be useful for the monitoring of stress levels and its potential impact on health of first responders. Additionally, it could also be an important tool for the design and implementation of efficient interventions and informed management resolutions in real time. Potential applications of this research include the development of quantified occupational health (qOHealth) devices for real life monitoring of emergency personnel stress reactions.
Highlights
The existing global challenges of our society, the escalation of crime and violence contribute to the increase of critical incidents; there is a greater need for security forces and emergency services to intervene (Shaffer, 2010)
Based on previous research recommendations, the current study developed a novel multi-method ambulatory stress approach in order to assess firefighters stress events, perceptions and symptoms during their daily work duties
In order to remove higher values of movement that may affect heart rate variability (HRV) changes due to stress, a selection of collected data was made according to a movement threshold measured by the wearable device accelerometer
Summary
The existing global challenges of our society, the escalation of crime and violence contribute to the increase of critical incidents; there is a greater need for security forces and emergency services to intervene (Shaffer, 2010). Society has strong expectations of the ability of firefighting personnel to carry out their responsibilities effectively. Firefighters perform their typical occupational activities in very hard, unpredictable emergency circumstances, exposing them to severe stress. In order to investigate firefighters’ occupational health in terms of stress events, perceptions, symptoms, and physiological reactions under real-world conditions, an ambulatory assessment protocol was developed. The proposed ambulatory study seems to be useful for the monitoring of stress levels and its potential impact on health of first responders. Potential applications of this research include the development of quantified occupational health (qOHealth) devices for real life monitoring of emergency personnel stress reactions
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