The State of Emergency Medical Services Clinician Mental Health in Virginia

Abstract

Background: In the United States, research has found that emergency medical service (EMS) clinicians contemplate and attempt suicide at a rate approximately 10 times higher than the general population. However, prior to this study, no comprehensive data existed on the mental health status and needs of Virginia’s EMS clinicians. Objective: To evaluate mental health conditions, substance use, COVID-19 stress, and job satisfaction among Virginia’s EMS clinicians and to assess the perceived mental health cultures, services, and barriers to seeking help within clinicians’ agencies. Methods: The [redacted institution name] constructed a comprehensive EMS clinician mental health cross-sectional survey during the spring of 2022. The survey was sent to every certified EMS clinician over the age of 18 with a working email address within the Commonwealth (N=36,376) as of April 15, 2022. Results: A total of 2,930 EMS clinicians who actively served in EMS within the past 12 months responded to the survey. On average, clinicians reported 9.9 days of perceived poor mental health out of a 30-day period, with 9.1% of clinicians seriously contemplating suicide within the past year. Almost 60% of respondents reported heavy alcohol consumption at least once in the year prior to the survey, while 6.5% had taken prescription drugs for non-medical reasons and 3.7% had used illegal drugs. Approximately 66% of clinicians felt the coronavirus pandemic increased workplace stress. More than half of respondents (57.3%) indicated they had intentions to quit working in EMS. Finally, 31.1% of clinicians disagreed or strongly disagreed that EMS clinician mental health is important to their agency. Conclusion: Virginia’s EMS clinicians experience a greater number of perceived poor mental health days, higher levels of suicide contemplation, and increased substance use as compared to the general population. Further health promotion actions are needed to address these disparities among Virginia’s EMS clinicians.