Psychological consequences of firefighters' working conditions: A Qualitative Study

Authors

Abstract:

Introduction: A high-risk job, firefighting involves a wide range of tasks. Given the difficult nature of the job with all the responsibilities included, and in addition to the impending physical injuries, firefighters undergo several emergencies which can endanger their psychological health. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the psychological consequences of firefighters' work conditions. Materials and Methods: The research method was qualitative and phenomenological. Using the purposeful sampling method, 16 firefighters were selected from fire stations across the city of Kerman, Iran; saturation criteria were used in the selection of participants. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed using Colaizzi’s seven-step method. In this way, first, the interviews were coded, and then based on the similarity of codes, 4 main categories were extracted.  Results: results showed that persistent stress (caused by the sound of fire alarms and announcement of fire emergencies, trying to make it to the scene on time, worrying about not being on time, and not finding the address of the incidents, complications, and uncertainties of the incidents), sleep problems (these include sleep disturbances, insomnia, difficulty maintaining sleep, startled waking up, somniloquy), negative emotions reminiscent of painful events, and difficulty in establishing good relationships with family members, are the most important psychological consequences that firefighters faced due to their working conditions. Conclusion: Considering the important role of firefighters in providing services in emergencies, the psychological consequences of this job are risk factors that harm the health and the performance of firefighters. Therefore, appropriate measures and planning need to be taken to manage and reduce ongoing stress and improve the quality of firefighters' sleep. To manage and reduce negative emotions and their family problems, appropriate training should be provided.

Upgrade to premium to download articles

Sign up to access the full text

Already have an account?login

similar resources

Consequences of elder abuse: A qualitative study

Introduction: The consequences of misconduct in societies are not well understood and vary depending on the social and cultural context of each country. Identifying the consequences of abuse from the point of view of elderly people who are abused can help the community in particular. This study is part of an extensive qualitative study aimed at explaining the consequences of abuse in the elderl...

full text

Consequences of procrastination in marital conflicts: A qualitative study

Outcomes of Procrastination in Marital Conflicts: A Qualitative Study Abstract Background and Objective: In the procedure of cycle of family life, problems and issues occur which result in turbulence for a while. When it comes to disagreement, difference, or lack of compatibility between spouses, conflicts occur. Marital conflicts are one of the most common problems of spouses in today’s worl...

full text

Simulation of working conditions by maximum work load on firefighters.

The aim of this research is to find out whether the firefighter manpower is adequate to the requirements in the field under the most severe conditions. It also attempts to test whether firefighters' working ability corresponds to their age. To that purpose 220 Croatian firefighters from the Littoral Mountainous county, 99 professional firefighters from the city of Rijeka, 45 professional firefi...

full text

Consequences of Death Awareness in Adolescents' Lives: A Qualitative Study

Aim: The present research intended to investigate the outcomes of death awareness in life from the perspective of Iranian adolescents. Methods: The study employed a phenomenological qualitative approach. The participants included 26 male and female high school students aged 16 to 18 going to schools in Tehran province, who were selected through criterion purposive sampling method. To collect da...

full text

Consequences of Adult Violence: A Qualitative Study on Content Analysis

Background and Objectives: One of the most important issues in public health is violence, which affects people around the world. Therefore, a qualitative study was conducted to explain the consequences of student violence.   Methods: This study was part of a qualitative exploratory sequential study conducted in Ruodsar in 2017. This study was carried out using conventional qualitative content...

full text

the emotional-psychological consequences of infertility among infertile women seeking treatment: results of a qualitative study

background: infertility is a major life event that brings about social and psychological problems. the type and rate these problems in the context of socio-cultural of different geographical areas and sex of people is different. objective: the aim of this qualitative study was to explain the psychological consequences of infertility in iranian infertile women seeking treatment. materials and me...

full text

My Resources

Save resource for easier access later

Save to my library Already added to my library

{@ msg_add @}


Journal title

volume 13  issue 3

pages  77- 91

publication date 2021-12

By following a journal you will be notified via email when a new issue of this journal is published.

Keywords

No Keywords

Hosted on Doprax cloud platform doprax.com

copyright © 2015-2023