Emotional self-efficacy and workplace psychological health in emergency dispatchers

PurposeThe main purpose of this research is to establish the relationships between emotional self-efficacy and workplace psychological health for emergency dispatchers.Design/methodology/approachA correlational design was used to validate results of the study. Between December 2018 and February 2019, a secure online questionnaire was sent to dispatchers through four emergency call centers. Participation was voluntary. A total of 257 emergency dispatchers participated in this study. Gilbert et al.’s (2011) scale of workplace psychological health and Deschênes et al.’s (2019) scale of emotional self-efficacy were used. Multiple linear regression and Pearson's correlation tests were run using the SPSS 25 program in order to establish relationships between the two variables.FindingsA total of three emotional competencies positively affect workplace psychological well-being (PWB), i.e. self-efficacy beliefs on managing one's own emotions, on managing other people' emotions and on using one's own emotions. As regards to psychological distress (PD), it is negatively correlated to self-efficacy beliefs on managing and using one's own emotions.Research limitations/implicationsOne of the study's theoretical contributions is to broaden the scientific knowledge of emergency service dispatching, in addition to opening up a new field of study in workplace people management.Practical implicationsThese scientific findings therefore show the importance of emotional self-efficacy in the workplace. The manager or the dispatch leader should focus on developing the following three emotional skills: self-efficacy in managing emotions, managing the emotions felt by others and using emotions. Training allowing the development of these emotional skills should be considered and would be beneficial for emergency dispatchers to maximize their well-being at work.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other study has focused on emergency dispatchers and included the emotional self-efficacy and workplace mental health variables.

Unique Job Roles and Mental Health Risk Factors Among Emergency Dispatchers

Emergency medical, fire, and police dispatchers are often called the first, first responders. Working in emergency communication centers, they are the first point of contact with medical, fire, and law enforcement resources and the first point of access to public health and public safety systems for millions of callers each year. Emergency dispatchers face unique risks to their mental health, and the roles and responsibilities specific to their work produce stressors not synonymous with those encountered by other first responders and emergency workers. Yet relatively little research has been done to understand the specific mental health concerns of this vital and often overlooked segment of the emergency services profession. The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of the job-specific tasks and work characteristics that make the emergency dispatcher's job qualitatively different from the jobs of other emergency workers and first responders, then discuss the unique mental health risks associated with their work.

Help we are sinking! Stories from Norwegian dispatch centers on decision-making in unfamiliar and ambiguous situations

The aim of this exploratory case study was to examine whether sensemaking processes may influence decision-making of emergency call center dispatchers when dealing with maritime crises. This article focuses on sensemaking and decision-making in an emergency services context using Norwegian operators as a case and reports on data collected from five focus-group interviews with emergency dispatchers at five different locations. Each focus group consisted of three dispatchers, representing the three main Norwegian emergency response dispatch centers: police, fire and rescue, and the Emergency Medical Communication Centre (AMK). The study’s purpose was to see whether choices made when responding to maritime crisis calls are influenced by sensemaking processes, and whether these processes may have influenced the dispatcher’s choice of which search and rescue resources to contact. The study found that the sensemaking processes that occurred prior to the decision-making might have been influenced by the dispatcher’s past experiences, in particular, experiences from land-based operations. The findings also suggested that the emergency dispatchers made decisions based on intuitive sensemaking, as they were perceived pressed on time and experienced maritime crisis in a more transboundary nature than everyday land-based emergencies. The effects of sensemaking processes and intuitive decision-making shown in this study are of possible relevance to emergency services educators and managers outside a Norwegian framework.

Dispatcher Stroke Recognition Using a Stroke Screening Tool: A Systematic Review

Background: Emergency dispatchers represent the first point of contact for patients activating an acute stroke response. Accurate dispatcher stroke recognition is associated with faster emergency medical services response time; however, stroke is often unrecognized during initial emergency calls. Stroke screening tools such as the Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale have been shown to improve on-scene stroke recognition and thus have been proposed as a means to improve dispatcher accuracy. We conducted a systematic review of the accuracy of emergency dispatcher stroke recognition when employing stroke screening tools. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search of Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Cochrane databases to identify studies of dispatcher stroke recognition accuracy. Those that specifically reported dispatcher utilization of any validated stroke screening tools in isolation or in the context of a comprehensive screening algorithm such as the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS) were potentially eligible. Studies that reported data sufficient for calculation of dispatcher sensitivity or positive predictive value (PPV) using a hospital-based stroke/transient ischemic attack diagnosis as the reference standard were included. Two independent reviewers determined study eligibility, assessed quality using the QUADAS 2 instrument, and abstracted data. Results: We identified 1,413 potential studies; 54 underwent full text review. Three retrospective and 4 prospective cohort studies enrolling a total of 16,382 patients met the inclusion criteria. Stroke screening tools included MPDS (n = 4), Face Arm Speech Time (n = 2), and a novel screening algorithm developed after analysis of emergency calls for stroke (n = 1). Regardless of the screening tool employed, dispatcher stroke recognition sensitivity was suboptimal (5 studies, range 41-83%) as was the PPV (7 studies, range 42-68%). Primary study limitations included application of variable reference standards and questions regarding exclusion of subjects. No studies directly compared stroke screening algorithms and no studies specifically examined stroke recognition among potential candidates for acute stroke therapies. Conclusion: Even when utilizing a stroke screening tool, the accuracy of stroke recognition by emergency dispatchers was suboptimal. More research is needed to identify the causes of poor dispatcher stroke recognition and should focus on potential candidates for time-dependent stroke treatment.