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March 29th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda THURSDAY, March 29 (HealthDay News) — Answering 911 calls for help may
cause emergency dispatchers to experience symptoms of post-traumatic
stress disorder, or PTSD, a new study has found.
Even indirect exposure to traumatic events could lead to psychological
disorders, whether a person personally knows the victims or not, according
to a report published in the March issue of the Journal of Traumatic
Stress.
“Post-traumatic psychological disorders are usually associated with
frontline emergency workers, such as police officers, fire fighters or
combat veterans,” study author Dr. Michelle Lilly, assistant professor of
psychology at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill., said in a
journal news release.
“Usually, research considers links between disorders and how much
emotional distress is experienced on the scene of a traumatic event,”
Lilly said. “However, this is the first study on emergency dispatchers,
who experience the trauma indirectly.”
In conducting the study, the researchers surveyed 171 emergency
dispatchers currently working in 24 states across the United States. The
dispatchers, who were primarily white women averaging 38 years old with
more than 11 years of experience, were questioned about the type of calls
they answer and the emotional distress they endured as a result of those
calls. They also were asked to rate the types of calls that cause them the
most distress and recall the worst call they ever received.
The unexpected injury or death of a child accounted for 16 percent of
the calls dispatchers identified as their worst trauma. Nearly 13 percent
of the worst calls identified were suicidal callers, about 10 percent were
police-officer shootings and another 10 percent involved the unexpected
death of an adult, the investigators found.
The study authors noted that the dispatchers experienced a high level
of distress following an average of 32 percent of potentially traumatic
calls. In addition, 3.5 percent of the dispatchers reported symptoms
severe enough to be classified as PTSD.
These new findings may contribute to the debate over the definition of
a “traumatic event,” ahead of the publication of official guidelines next
year, the news release noted.
“Our research is the first to reveal the extent of emotional distress
experienced by emergency dispatchers while on duty,” researcher Heather
Pierce, a former 911 dispatcher, said in the news release. “The results
show the need to provide these workers with prevention and intervention
support as is currently provided for their frontline colleagues. This
includes briefings and training in ways to handle emotional distress.”
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health has more about PTSD.
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