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Review
. 2022 Feb 28:13:773100.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.773100. eCollection 2022.

The Psychological Challenges of Emergency Medical Service Providers During Disasters: A Mini-Review February 2022

Abdullah Abdulaziz Alghamdi  1
Affiliations
Review

The Psychological Challenges of Emergency Medical Service Providers During Disasters: A Mini-Review February 2022

Abdullah Abdulaziz Alghamdi. Front Psychiatry. .

Abstract

The provision of emergency medical services (EMS) is an inherently stressful job. Depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are common psychological challenges affecting EMS providers. As disasters increase worldwide, the need for EMS also increases, as they are an essential part of any disaster management system. Studies have shown that EMS providers experience psychological challenges due to disaster response without receiving the needed psychological support. There is a scarcity of research focusing on EMS providers' psychological challenges in disaster times, especially in the Eastern world. This review highlights the psychological challenges faced by EMS providers in disaster times and discusses the amount of mental health care they receive. By emphasizing the need for mental health support, more research can be conducted to view EMS providers' perspectives on mental health needs before, during, and after disasters, and EMS policy makers can find programs to meet EMS providers' mental health needs, which might reflect positively on EMS and disaster management systems.

Keywords: PTSD; disasters mental health; emergency medical service providers challenges; emergency medical service providers in disasters; emergency medical service providers mental health.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow chart showing the search strategy.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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