The Severe Stress Impact on Firefighter Performance

The firefighters/paramedics are very exposed to stress problems. Primarily their job and everything that implies it (their superiors, the victims affected by the disasters, etc.) is stressful. Studies show that if they are well educated and trained before getting started their jobs, they can face better the dangers and the stress impact on firefighter performance.

How affects the stress at work the performance of the firefighter? - In a series of medical journals stress impact on firefighter performance was broadly discussed. Firefighters are strained and they have to be very patient. They have to care for other lives but they put their own lives in danger. The average time a paramedic can work is eight years (and that because they cannot resist longer).

- Stress impact on firefighter performance and depression form the second main type of illnesses after heart disease. - In 2000, statistics showed that 23% of the paramedics would like to leave their job and 62% of them gave as a reason the job stress impact on firefighter performance.

There is a real case of psychological disorder caused by stress impact on firefighter performance in Robert O'Donnell (firefighter) which can be a very good example of post traumatic stress disorder caused by his job. He rescued a little girl but his life changed radically. He was very affected by what he saw and felt, in such a way that his mental health got very damaged in time. He was considered to be a hero after that by the people but he began to have emotional problems, and then began to use drugs and, finally, he committed suicide.

Sometimes you can hide stress impact on firefighter performance and this can maintain you on the line for a while but after a time serious problems may appear. Hiding stress impact on firefighter performance is not the best choice you have. Your health is more affected if you do that than if you admit you are stressed and try to stop it.

Firefighters do this usually and when common people started to find out about the stress impact on firefighter performance these suffer from they were very surprised. The common people think that the firefighters and the paramedics have no feelings. They are, as we are, common people; the only difference is that they do something to protect us.

>>Studies show that very many firefighters/paramedics are being divorced or have a bad relationship.

>> In addition, their physical and psychological healths are damaged: symptoms of distress and continuing pain, but also emotional instability, performance difficulties, risk of their lives and safety during an operation. But this will not detain them from doing their jobs.

The agents that affect the firefighters are known as being purely psychological stressors, even if there are some physical stressors like injuries or wounds they can get during an operation of rescue but these ones are not so damaging as the others. Their mission is noble but they save lives with the risk of destroying theirs. What can be nobler than someone who rescues you and who does not care that he might die if he does it? For them, their job and the other human beings are more important than their own lives.

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