Mental health and help seeking among trauma-exposed emergency service staff: a qualitative evidence synthesis.

OBJECTIVES: To identify factors and contexts that may contribute to mental health and recovery from psychological difficulties for emergency service workers (ESWs) exposed to occupational trauma, and barriers and facilitators to help-seeking behaviour among trauma-exposed ESWs. BACKGROUND: ESWs are at greater risk of stressor-related psychopathology than the general population. Exposure to occupational stressors and trauma contribute to the observed rates of post-trauma psychopathology in this occupational group with implications for workforce sustainability. Types of organisational interventions offered to trauma-exposed ESWs are inconsistent across the UK, with uncertainty around how to engage staff. DESIGN: Four databases (OVID MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and SCOPUS) were systematically searched from 1 January 1980 to March 2020, with citation tracking and reference chaining. A modified Critical Appraisal Skills Programme tool and quality appraisal prompts were used to identify fatally flawed studies. Qualitative studies of trauma-exposure in front-line ESWs were included, and data were extracted using a customised extraction table. Included studies were analysed using thematic synthesis. RESULTS: A qualitative evidence synthesis was conducted with 24 qualitative studies meeting inclusion criteria, as defined by the PerSPEcTiF framework. Fourteen descriptive themes emerged from this review, categorised into two overarching constructs: (1) factors contributing to mental health (such as the need for downtime, peer support and reassurance) and (2) factors influencing help-seeking behaviour (such as stigma, the content/form/mandatory nature of interventions, and mental health literacy issues including emotional awareness and education). CONCLUSION: ESWs reported disconnect between the organisations' cultural positioning on trauma-related mental health, the reality of undertaking the role and the perceived applicability and usefulness of trauma interventions. Following traumatic exposure, ESWs identify benefitting from recovery time and informal support from trusted colleagues. A culture which encourages help seeking and open dialogue around mental health may reduce stigma and improve recovery from mental ill health associated with trauma exposure.

What factors are associated with ambulance use for non-emergency problems in children? A systematic mapping review and qualitative synthesis.

OBJECTIVE: To explore what factors are associated with ambulance use for non-emergency problems in children. METHODS: This study is a systematic mapping review and qualitative synthesis of published journal articles and grey literature. Searches were conducted on the following databases, for articles published between January 1980 and July 2020: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL and AMED. A Google Scholar and a Web of Science search were undertaken to identify reports or proceedings not indexed in the above. Book chapters and theses were searched via the OpenSigle, EThOS and DART databases. A literature advisory group, including experts in the field, were contacted for relevant grey literature and unpublished reports. The inclusion criteria incorporated articles published in the English language reporting findings for the reasons behind why there are so many calls to the ambulance service for non-urgent problems in children. Data extraction was divided into two stages: extraction of data to generate a broad systematic literature 'map', and extraction of data from highly relevant papers using qualitative methods to undertake a focused qualitative synthesis. An initial table of themes associated with reasons for non-emergency calls to the ambulance for children formed the 'thematic map' element. The uniting feature running through all of the identified themes was the determination of 'inappropriateness' or 'appropriateness' of an ambulance call out, which was then adopted as the concept of focus for our qualitative synthesis. RESULTS: There were 27 articles used in the systematic mapping review and 17 in the qualitative synthesis stage of the review. Four themes were developed in the systematic mapping stage: socioeconomic status/geographical location, practical reasons, fear of consequences and parental education. Three analytical themes were developed in the qualitative synthesis stage including practicalities and logistics of obtaining care, arbitrary scoring system and retrospection. CONCLUSIONS: There is a lack of public and caregiver understanding about the use of ambulances for paediatrics. There are factors that appear specific to choosing ambulance care for children that are not so prominent in adults (fever, reassurance, fear of consequences). Future areas for attention to decrease ambulance activation for paediatric low-acuity reports were highlighted as: identifying strategies for helping caregivers to mitigate perceived risk, increasing availability of primary care, targeted education to particular geographical areas, education to first-time parents with infants and providing alternate means of transportation. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42019160395.

Ambulance use for 'primary care' problems: an ethnographic study of seeking and providing help in a UK ambulance service.

OBJECTIVES: To explore what factors shape a service user's decision to call an emergency ambulance for a 'primary care sensitive' condition (PCSC), including contextual factors. Additionally, to understand the function and purpose of ambulance care from the perspective of service users, and the role health professionals may play in influencing demand for ambulances in PCSCs. DESIGN: An ethnographic study set in one UK ambulance service. Patient cases were recruited upon receipt of ambulance treatment for a situation potentially manageable in primary care, as determined by a primary care clinician accompanying emergency medical services (EMS) crews. Methods used included: structured observations of treatment episodes; in-depth interviews with patients, relatives and carers and their GPs; purposeful conversations with ambulance clinicians; analysis of routine healthcare records; analysis of the original EMS 'emergency' telephone call recording. RESULTS: We analysed 170 qualitative data items across 50 cases. Three cross-cutting concepts emerged as central to EMS use for a PCSC: (1) There exists a typology of nine 'triggers', which we categorise as either 'internal' or 'external', depending on how much control the caller feels they have of the situation; (2) Calling an ambulance on behalf of someone else creates a specific anxiety about urgency; (3) Healthcare professionals experience conflict around fuelling demand for ambulances. CONCLUSIONS: Previous work suggests a range of sociodemographic factors that may be associated with choosing ambulance care in preference to alternatives. Building on established sociological models, this work helps understand how candidacy is displayed during the negotiation of eligibility for ambulance care. Seeking urgent assistance on behalf of another often requires specific support and different strategies. Use of EMS for such problems-although inefficient-is often conceptualised as 'rational' by service users. Public health strategies that seek to advise the public about appropriate use of EMS need to consider how individuals conceptualise an 'emergency' situation.

'Primary care sensitive' situations that result in an ambulance attendance: a conversation analytic study of UK emergency '999' call recordings.

OBJECTIVES: To explore common features of conversations occurring in a sample of emergency calls that result in an ambulance dispatch for a 'primary care sensitive' situation, and better understand the challenges of triaging this cohort. DESIGN: A qualitative study, applying conversation analytic methods to routinely recorded telephone calls made through the '999' system for an emergency ambulance. Cases were identified by a primary care clinician, observing front-line UK ambulance service shifts. A sample of 48 '999' recordings were analysed, corresponding to situations potentially amenable to primary care management. RESULTS: The analysis focuses on four recurring ways that speakers use talk in these calls. Progress can be impeded when call-taker's questions appear to require callers to have access to knowledge that is not available to them. Accordingly, callers often provide personal accounts of observed events, which may be troublesome for call-takers to 'code' and triage. Certain question formats-notably 'alternative question' formats-appear particularly problematic. Callers deploy specific lexical, grammatical and prosodic resources to legitimise the contact as 'urgent', and ensure that their perception of risk is conveyed. Difficulties encountered in the triage exchange may be evidence of misalignment between organisational and caller perceptions of the 'purpose' of the questions. CONCLUSIONS: Previous work has focused on exploring the presentation and triage of life-threatening medical emergencies. Meaningful insights into the challenges of EMS triage can also be gained by exploring calls for 'primary care sensitive' situations. The highly scripted triage process requires precise, 'codeable' responses to questions, which can create challenges when the exact urgency of the problem is unclear to both caller and call-taker. Calling on behalf of someone else may compound this complexity. The aetiology of some common interactional challenges may offer a useful frame for future comparison between calls for 'primary care sensitive' situations and life-threatening emergencies.