Camaraderie is “a dominant factor” in helping deal well with traumatic events, a survey of 900 fire service personnel has found.
The findings of the study by the Centre for Psychological Health at Trinity College Dublin, were presented to the annual Chief Fire officers Association conference yesterday.
Researchers had not anticipated how important camaraderie, the informal cup of tea, going for a drink or relaxing conversations, had among the fire service, Prof Dave Hevey, one of the authors, said.
All fire authorities provide critical incident stress management services. However, the services vary by providers across local authorities.
The current “flexible” approach of informal and formal, immediate and longer-term supports worked well and people were happy with the services overall, he said. By and large, the majority did not need additional supports from mental health professionals, the study found.