Mental disorder symptoms in Canadian HEMS personnel: a national-level study
Emergency services personnel are regularly exposed to potentially traumatic events with substantial consequences for their mental health. Current estimations from Canadian emergency medical service (EMS) providers show a prevalence of clinically relevant symptomology of 20% or higher in anxiety, de...
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SG Publishing
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being |
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| Online Access: | https://www.journalcswb.ca/index.php/cswb/article/view/441 |
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| author | Sebastian Harenberg Michelle C. E. McCarron Margaret Nieto Owen Scheirer R. Nicholas Carleton Terrence Ross |
| author_facet | Sebastian Harenberg Michelle C. E. McCarron Margaret Nieto Owen Scheirer R. Nicholas Carleton Terrence Ross |
| author_sort | Sebastian Harenberg |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Emergency services personnel are regularly exposed to potentially traumatic events with substantial consequences for their mental health. Current estimations from Canadian emergency medical service (EMS) providers show a prevalence of clinically relevant symptomology of 20% or higher in anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress. Interestingly, evidence from Canadian helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) demonstrates a substantially lower prevalence rate (i.e., <10%) of mental disorder symptoms. However, current Canadian data stem from a single HEMS service. A comprehensive assessment of mental disorders from a larger, nationwide sample is presently absent, which was the purpose of the current study. A sample of 215 HEMS personnel (male n = 165, 76.6%) from six Canadian provinces (AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, NS) completed an online survey measuring several mental disorder symptoms. The results revealed a prevalence of clinically elevated symptoms of 7% in posttraumatic stress disorder, 16.8% in major depressive disorder, 5.6% in anxiety, and 3.7% stress. Paramedics reported a significantly higher prevalence of clinically elevated symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder symptoms compared to other HEMS personnel. The findings indicate a higher prevalence of some mental disorder symptoms (i.e., post-traumatic disorder, major depressive disorder) compared to existing data from a single Canadian HEMS organization. There are several psychological (e.g., coping mechanisms), organizational (e.g., time for structured debriefing), and extraneous factors (e.g., COVID-19 pandemic) that may have influenced the results. Yet, the prevalence levels remain much below those reported in on-the-ground EMS workers, which warrants further investigation.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7f4d201e52c243b0a689f0cb7cf265cb |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2371-4298 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | SG Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being |
| spelling | doaj-art-7f4d201e52c243b0a689f0cb7cf265cb2025-08-20T02:22:55ZengSG PublishingJournal of Community Safety and Well-Being2371-42982025-06-0110210.35502/jcswb.441Mental disorder symptoms in Canadian HEMS personnel: a national-level studySebastian Harenberg0Michelle C. E. McCarron1Margaret Nieto2Owen Scheirer3R. Nicholas Carleton4Terrence Ross5Department of Human Kinetics, St. Francis Xavier University, 4130 University Ave, Antigonish, NS, CanadaFaculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Pkwy, Regina, SK, CanadaDepartment of Human Kinetics, St. Francis Xavier University, 4130 University Ave, Antigonish, NS, CanadaDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Saskatchewan Health Authority, 701 Queen St, Saskatoon, SK, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Pkwy, Regina, SK, CanadaDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Saskatchewan Health Authority, 701 Queen St, Saskatoon, SK, Canada Emergency services personnel are regularly exposed to potentially traumatic events with substantial consequences for their mental health. Current estimations from Canadian emergency medical service (EMS) providers show a prevalence of clinically relevant symptomology of 20% or higher in anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress. Interestingly, evidence from Canadian helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) demonstrates a substantially lower prevalence rate (i.e., <10%) of mental disorder symptoms. However, current Canadian data stem from a single HEMS service. A comprehensive assessment of mental disorders from a larger, nationwide sample is presently absent, which was the purpose of the current study. A sample of 215 HEMS personnel (male n = 165, 76.6%) from six Canadian provinces (AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, NS) completed an online survey measuring several mental disorder symptoms. The results revealed a prevalence of clinically elevated symptoms of 7% in posttraumatic stress disorder, 16.8% in major depressive disorder, 5.6% in anxiety, and 3.7% stress. Paramedics reported a significantly higher prevalence of clinically elevated symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder symptoms compared to other HEMS personnel. The findings indicate a higher prevalence of some mental disorder symptoms (i.e., post-traumatic disorder, major depressive disorder) compared to existing data from a single Canadian HEMS organization. There are several psychological (e.g., coping mechanisms), organizational (e.g., time for structured debriefing), and extraneous factors (e.g., COVID-19 pandemic) that may have influenced the results. Yet, the prevalence levels remain much below those reported in on-the-ground EMS workers, which warrants further investigation. https://www.journalcswb.ca/index.php/cswb/article/view/441mental healthfirst respondershelicopter emergency medical servicesPTSD |
| spellingShingle | Sebastian Harenberg Michelle C. E. McCarron Margaret Nieto Owen Scheirer R. Nicholas Carleton Terrence Ross Mental disorder symptoms in Canadian HEMS personnel: a national-level study Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being mental health first responders helicopter emergency medical services PTSD |
| title | Mental disorder symptoms in Canadian HEMS personnel: a national-level study |
| title_full | Mental disorder symptoms in Canadian HEMS personnel: a national-level study |
| title_fullStr | Mental disorder symptoms in Canadian HEMS personnel: a national-level study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mental disorder symptoms in Canadian HEMS personnel: a national-level study |
| title_short | Mental disorder symptoms in Canadian HEMS personnel: a national-level study |
| title_sort | mental disorder symptoms in canadian hems personnel a national level study |
| topic | mental health first responders helicopter emergency medical services PTSD |
| url | https://www.journalcswb.ca/index.php/cswb/article/view/441 |
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