Working with a Preferred EMS Partner Reduces Stress and Increases Perceived Social Support in

Melanie T. Stanzer, EMT-B, Fay A. Guarraci, Ph.D., Traci A. Giuliano, Ph.D., Allen Sims, EMT-P Southwestern University

Introduction Method Results Conclusions

 A job in medical services (EMS) is Participants and Procedure Four significant findings emerged.  Overall, paramedics prefer working with associated with high occupational stress. partners versus EMT-B partners.  One hundred six paramedics (38 women, 68 men; 1) Participants expressed an overall preference for working .Specifically, patient care stress can affect M age= 35 years, SD= 8.37, Range= 21-58 ) with a paramedic than with an EMT-Basic partner  Having a paramedic partner enhances overall daily stress of EMTs (Boudreaux, .Years of experience in EMS: M= 11.19, SD= 6.64, (M= 3.69 vs 3.0/No preference), t(105)= 13.36, p <. 0001. perceived social support, increases the Jones, Mandry, & Brantley, 1996). Range= 2-35 years opportunity to administer ALS care .High occupational stress has been .Years of experience as a paramedic: M= 7.58, 1………2………3………4………5 simultaneously, and decreases the chance of associated with high global psychological SD= 5.63, Range= .25-24 years Strongly Somewhat No Somewhat Strongly overlooking vital observations. distress (Boudreaux, Mandry, & Brantley, Prefer Prefer Preference Prefer Prefer .Length of time in current service: M= 6.52, SD= 5.65, EMT-B EMT-B Paramedic Paramedic  In addition, working with a preferred partner 1997). Range= .17-25 years lowers stress levels. .High levels of stress can decrease a health  Questionnaires were personally distributed to 2) Preference for a paramedic partner was positively related  Knowing the factors that contribute to care provider’s confidence in performing a task paramedics at the Texas EMS conference and to on- to participants’ agreement that a paramedic allows for (Williams, Dale, Glucksman, & Wellesley, paramedics’ preference for working with other duty paramedics working at various services in the simultaneously administration of ALS care, r(106)=.29, p paramedics allows management to better 1997), increase negative attitudes towards greater area. < .005, and that a paramedic partner can make vital patients (Cydulka, Lyons, Moy, Shay, Hammer, observations that participants might have missed, maximize their resources, to ensure the highest  An incentive of $5 and a raffle ticket for an iPOD were r(106)=.25, p < .011. quality of patient care, and to safeguard the & Mathews, 1989), and increase critical errors offered. (LeBlanc, Mac Donald, McArthur, King, & well-being of their employees. Lepine, 2005). Questionnaire  Future studies should investigate the extent to 3) As predicted, paramedics who worked a greater  5-point Likert scales which working with a preferred EMS partner  Social support has been shown to buffer stress percentage of time with the skill level partner they (Wills, 1990).  Preference for a Paramedic vs an EMT-B partner preferred reported lower stress levels (M= 2.09) than affects the patient care delivered. Further those who spent more time with their non-preferred research should also make distinctions to .Cohesiveness and support among EMTs and (1= Strongly Prefer EMT-B, 3= No preference, 5= partners (M= 2.30), t(86)=2.27, p < .03. determine which system is better depending on positive supervisor interactions result in lower Strongly Prefer Paramedic) work related stress scores (Revicki & Gershon, the call-volume of the service. .6 questions asked participants to rate who they would Paramedics Who Spend More Time Working with 1996). prefer in each of the following scenarios: Preferred Partner Report Lower Stress Levels 2.5 •To feel more confident, to work more efficiently, 2.4 Acknowledgements Objective decrease time on scene, to decrease time to intervention, on an ALS call, & on a BLS call 2.3

.Potential reasons for partner preferences (8 2.2  EMS often question whether 2- or 1- paramedic *  We would like to thank Cypress Creek EMS for questions) 2.1

staffed are better; however, one Level Stress Average their support, Southwestern University for the neglected issue is who paramedics prefer to  Perceived general stress during the last month (26 2 use of their facilities, and the Journal of items adapted from Williams, Dale, Glucksman, & work with (paramedic or EMT-B partner). 1.9 Emergency Medical Services for their financial Wellesley, 1997; α= .89) Preferred Partner Non-Preferred Partner  The current study sought to determine if support.  Perceived social support (14 items adapted from paramedics prefer to work with a paramedic or Bartram, Joiner, & Stanton, 2004; α= .85) an EMT-Basic partner. 4) The more time paramedics reported working with  Background, Work Environment, & Experience  In addition, we investigated whether paramedic partners (M= 55.28) versus EMT-B partners paramedics’ partner preference is related to . Age, gender, years of experience, % of time spent (M= 27.58), the more social support they perceived, social support and to perceived general stress. working with paramedic and EMT-Basic partners r(99)=.36, p < .0001.  We predicted that paramedics working with their  Open-ended partner preference question asking the participant to describe in more detail their preference or preferred EMS partner experience increased indifference for a paramedic partner versus an EMT-B social support, which buffers effects of stress, partner. and consequently would improve performance.