• Anxiety and mood
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2017

Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the mental health improvement program in Korean firefighters. Methods : A total of 502 firefighters working at Daegu, Ulsan and Gumi participated in the mental health improvement program for an 8-week period. The program included evaluation and counseling as well as psychoeducation for mental health awareness. Subjects were divided to two groups including the PTSD high risk group and PTSD non-high risk group. Results : The program resulted in a significant decrease in mean scores of depression and insomnia for all firefighters. PTSD high risk group showed a significantly higher level of depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Multiple logistic regression analysis with PTSD high risk group as a dependent variable indicated that moderate depression was a high-risk factor for PTSD in firefighters, as compared to no depression ; in addition, subthreshold and moderate insomnia was another risk factor. Conclusion : The evaluation and management of psychopathologies including depression and insomnia associated with traumatic events can be helpful to improve the mental health of firefighters.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.448-455
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• 2022

Background: While the organizational factors that account for firefighters' burnout have been extensively explored, the individual factors related to how they regulate interpersonal conflicts and emotions remain to be investigated. Previous research has demonstrated the association between emotional intelligence and conflict management styles and burnout, but no study has looked at the interrelationships among these factors in high-risk sectors. The present exploratory study aimed to fill this research gap by investigating the relationships between conflict management style, emotional intelligence and burnout in a sample of firefighters. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 240 French firefighters. Measures comprised validated scales of conflict management styles, emotional intelligence and burnout. Results: Results showed that the integrating conflict style reduced burnout. They also revealed the effects of emotion regulation on burnout, whereby the awareness and management of one's own emotions reduced burnout. Moreover, awareness of one's own emotions moderated the relationship between integrating conflict resolution style and burnout, whereby the effect of integrating style on reduced burnout was higher when awareness of one's own emotions was high. Conclusion: These results reveal that strategies used by firefighters to regulate their emotions in order to meet the emotional demands specific to their job are important for reducing the emotional exhaustion component of burnout. Training programs for conflict and emotion management are needed to preserve the mental health of firefighters and ensure the safety of interventions.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.431-437
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• 2023

Background: Depressive symptoms (DS) can erode physical and mental health; social support (SS) is considered a buffer for DS and a promoter for improving coping and recovery abilities. However, there is almost no research on the mediating role of negative coping (NC) in SS and DS, especially among firefighters. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among firefighters in Chongqing, China, and the valid data of 407 firefighters were collected through questionnaires distributed on the WeChat platform in 2020. Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) 26.0 is used for descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. Structural equation modeling was adopted to analyze the association among SS, NC, and DS. The mediation effect is also evaluated. Results: Firefighters' detection rate of DS is 23.3%, and when they receive more SS were less likely to develop DS. NC was positively correlated with DS (β = 0.54, p < 0.001) after controlling for SS. Besides, the results of structural equation modeling showed that NC partially mediates the relationship between SS and DS (standard error = 0.039, indirect effects = 0.109, 95% confidence interval: 0.047-0.200 p < 0.001). Conclusion: NC has a partial indirect effect between SS and DS among firefighters. SS could not only affect DS directly but also indirect work on it by affecting NC. This discovery will be a novel and meaningful part of the research on the firefighter population.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.34-43
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• 2020

Purpose: In this study, we will try to find out problems and improvements of the policies in order to verify whether the plans contribute to the health and welfare of the firefighters properly. Method: By the Delphi analysis by experts. Result: There are problems such as absence of Firefighters' hospital, insufficient mental health education program in fire department, lack of on-site risk assessment system, problem on ineffectiveness of mental and physical health care business, lack of substantiality on mental and physical stability program, absence of mental health education, ensuring the confidentiality for users of mental health programs, lack of support for parent firefighters, lack of firefighters' retirement design and insufficient treatment for female firefighters. Conclusion: There are Improvements such as establishing Firefighters' hospital, improving mental health education and training CISD leaders in the fire department, preparing disaster risk assessment system, effectiveness measurement for visiting psychological counseling projects, improving the program through customer satisfaction surveys, establishment of mental health education system, ensuring confidentiality by improving personnel systems, encourage childcare leave and introduce childcare facilities at fire stations, revitalizing retirement Firefighters and policy development for female firefighters.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.635-645
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• 2015

This study analyzed the range of motion of upper body in different configurations of firefighters' protective clothing and equipment. The purpose of this study was to understand the influence of firefighters' protective clothing and equipment over upper body motion in order to improve design of firefighters' protective clothing and equipment. 12 firefighters' upper body range of motion was analyzed while performing standing and walking trials in five different garment configurations including turnout ensemble, fire boots and the self-contained breathing apparatus. Analysis of upper body range of motion included spinal joints of L5S1, L4L3, T1C7, and C1Head. During standing trials, garment configurations caused a significant difference in range of motions at joints of L5S1, L4L3, T1C7, and C1Head. Analysis on the mean of range of motions at L5S1 and L4L3, showed that firefighters' waist bent forward significantly to a greater extent while they wore a self-contained breathing apparatus. A significantly increased range of motion was found for T1C7 and C1Head while carrying a self-contained breathing apparatus, which indicated an increase in the extension of the trunk and neck backward to stand upright and look squarely. A significant difference in range of motion was also found for L5S1 and L4L3 during walking trials.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.83-90
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• 2024

Objectives: Professional firefighters face various health hazards and are required to maintain both physical and mental fitness to effectively mitigate crises and respond to emergencies. Moreover, the long working hours and shift work of this profession impact sleep quality. This study investigated the quality of sleep and its associated factors among firefighters in Bangkok, Thailand. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of firefighters affiliated with the Bangkok Fire and Rescue Department, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, Thailand between January 2023 and March 2023. A cluster random sampling technique was utilized to distribute 600 questionnaires to firefighters in 15 fire stations. The questionnaire addressed demographic, work-related, and environmental factors. Sleep quality was assessed using the Thai version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Data analysis involved both descriptive and inferential statistics. Bivariate and multiple logistic regressions were performed. Results: The response rate was 78.7% (n=472), and 44.1% of the firefighters reported poor sleep quality (PSQI score >5). Sleep quality was statistically associated with conflicting family relationships (odds ratio [OR], 1.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1 to 2.9), additional part-time jobs (daytime, OR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.3 to 4.4; or nighttime, OR, 4.3; 95% CI, 1.1 to 16.7), noisy sleeping areas (OR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.1 to 2.8), and the availability of adequate bedding (OR, 3.0; 95% CI, 1.8 to 4.9). Conclusions: Poor sleep quality among firefighters was associated with various personal, work-related, and environmental factors. Organizations should promote policies that improve sleep quality through good sleep hygiene practices and facilities.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.396-403
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• 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating effect of perceived appraisal support between neuroticism and occupational stress in firefighters. Methods: The subjects of this study were 156 firefighters who worked at three fire stations in G province in Korea. The collected data were analyzed by t-test, ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis using Baron and Kenny's method for mediation. Results: There were significant relationships between neuroticism and perceived appraisal support (r=.30, p<.001), neuroticism and occupational stress (r=.42, p<.001), and perceived appraisal support and occupational stress (r=.36, p<.001). Perceived appraisal support showed partial mediating effects in the relationship between neuroticism and occupational stress. Conclusion: The impact of neuroticism in firefighters was mediated by perceived appraisal support for occupational stress. This suggests that strategies for enhancing perceived appraisal support in fire fighters should be considered when developing neuroticism management interventions for decreasing their occupational stress.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.132-143
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• 2021

Purpose: The study aimed to explore experiences of the posttraumatic growth (PTG) in firefighters with repeated exposure to traumatic events. Methods: Participants were 11 firefighters from two fire departments, who had experienced more than one critical trauma events. Data were collected through personal interviews from August to October 2020 and analyzed by Colaizzi's phenomenological methods. Results: The PTG experiences were derived into four categories: 'growth in self-perception', 'rediscovery of the meaning of life', 'deep interpersonal relationships', and 'discovery of the meaning of work'. Conclusion: These findings could be used as basic information for developing PTG program for firefighters such as logo-therapy, semantic therapy, and self-disclosure intervention using expressive writing and speaking.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.7-18
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• 2023

Purpose: This study conducted a systematic literature review to analyze the factors related to suicidal ideation among firefighters. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted to identify factors influencing suicidal ideation among firefighters, using Korean academic information search services from January to June 2022. A total of 238 articles were searched using keywords such as "firefighter," "depression," "post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)," "cognitive emotion regulation," "suicide," and "suicidal ideation." Among them, nine articles were selected for analysis using descriptive correlation studies. Results: It was found that the relationship between firefighter stress (PTSD) and suicidal thoughts was mediated by depression. Even if the stress level (PTSD) was high, suicidal thoughts decreased when the emotional coping level was high. Conclusion: To prevent firefighters from committing suicide, intervention programs with effective approaches to quickly identify high at-risk people and improve their emotional coping skills, should be implemented.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.27 no.2_2
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• pp.363-370
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• 2024

This study is about the organizational justice of fire service agency for organizational commitment and motivation of firefighters. The research data were collected from 355 firefighters nationwide using the On-nara Administrative Work Management System 2.0. The statistical processing method of the research data was analyzed using the statistical program SPSS 28.0. The study results showed that the overall level of firefighters' perception of organizational justice was slightly lower than normal, with an average score of 2.85. Regarding gender, male firefighters were more likely to believe that the organization was injustice than female firefighters. In addition, organizational justice was found to be lower among fire sergeants by rank and first aiders by responsibility.