My master’s thesis discusses different ways of coping with stress in emergency services. Discussed emergency services are paramedics, firefighters, soldiers and members of special police unit. The theoretical part describes stress and ways of coping with it. I also discuss psychological trauma and post traumatic stress disorder. I touch upon stress in the workplace and different crisis interventions. I present selected emergency services (paramedics, firefighters, soldiers and member of special police unit) and I define psychosocial support for individual emergency services (similarities and differences among them). I think about a connection of the presented topic and social pedagogy at the end of the theoretical part.
In the empirical part I research in what ways do employees in selected emergency services cope with stress, how they are being helped by the internal expert services and how they experience stress in the workplace in connection to the quality of their private life. I carried out ten directional conversations (four with paramedics, three with firefighters and three with soldiers) and I also used three already carried out interviews with members of special police unit. Based on thirteen directional conversations, I compared four groups of people employed in different emergency services, their similarities and differences in their coping with stress and experience of stressful situations. The most stressful situations for half of the interlocutors are unpredictable situations and situations with children involved. All interlocutors find sport and talking with colleagues as ways to cope with stress, family and experiences follow. In their private life they all think about their job, however that does not influence on the quality of their private life. When they are at work, they are also thinking about their homes, however, that does not influence on their jobs.
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