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AIMS Public Health

2022, Volume 9, Issue 2: 403-414. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2022027
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Evaluation of call volume and negative emotions in emergency response system telecommunicators: a prospective, intensive longitudinal investigation

  • 1.
    Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
  • 2.
    Health Promotion Sciences, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
  • 3.
    Tucson Fire Department, City of Tucson, Tucson, AZ, USA
  • Received: 18 December 2021 Revised: 11 March 2022 Accepted: 20 March 2022 Published: 28 March 2022

  • Emergency telecommunicators are essential first responders tasked with coordinated communication within the emergency response system (ERS). Despite their exposure to significant job demands, little is known about the effect of call load or call type on emotional state within these workers. Therefore, we employed a prospective, intensive longitudinal design to examine whether emergency-eligible call volume would lead to higher intensity negative emotions post-shift when controlling for pre-shift negative emotions and a number of other work and individual factors, including work duration and night shift. A total of 47 ERS telecommunicators (dispatchers, operators, other) completed ratings over working shifts within a two-week period. Call frequency was gathered through the agency Computer-Assisted Dispatch database. Negative emotions of irritation, stress, worry, and fatigue were measured through the Visual Analogue Scale administered before and after shift. Mixed linear modeling demonstrated that telecommunicators who received more calls per hour (Estimate = 3.56, SE = 1.44, p < 0.05) and more-than-usual calls per hour (Estimate = 1.97, SE = .94, p < 0.05) had higher levels of post-shift irritability. Longer-than-usual working hours also predicted higher levels of post-shift irritability (Estimate = 1.32, SE = 0.59, p < 0.05). Call volume did not predict other negative emotions, although secondary analyses demonstrated that a larger number of chronic calls lead to greater levels of post-shift worry. ERS telecommunication agencies aiming to reduce negative emotions in workers may benefit from implementing policies and programs that target working hours, call load, and work-life balance.

    Citation: Matthew Hoang, Elizabeth Hillier, Chris Conger, Devan N. Gengler, Cody W. Welty, Candace Mayer, Patricia L. Haynes. Evaluation of call volume and negative emotions in emergency response system telecommunicators: a prospective, intensive longitudinal investigation[J]. AIMS Public Health, 2022, 9(2): 403-414. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2022027

    Related Papers:

  • Emergency telecommunicators are essential first responders tasked with coordinated communication within the emergency response system (ERS). Despite their exposure to significant job demands, little is known about the effect of call load or call type on emotional state within these workers. Therefore, we employed a prospective, intensive longitudinal design to examine whether emergency-eligible call volume would lead to higher intensity negative emotions post-shift when controlling for pre-shift negative emotions and a number of other work and individual factors, including work duration and night shift. A total of 47 ERS telecommunicators (dispatchers, operators, other) completed ratings over working shifts within a two-week period. Call frequency was gathered through the agency Computer-Assisted Dispatch database. Negative emotions of irritation, stress, worry, and fatigue were measured through the Visual Analogue Scale administered before and after shift. Mixed linear modeling demonstrated that telecommunicators who received more calls per hour (Estimate = 3.56, SE = 1.44, p < 0.05) and more-than-usual calls per hour (Estimate = 1.97, SE = .94, p < 0.05) had higher levels of post-shift irritability. Longer-than-usual working hours also predicted higher levels of post-shift irritability (Estimate = 1.32, SE = 0.59, p < 0.05). Call volume did not predict other negative emotions, although secondary analyses demonstrated that a larger number of chronic calls lead to greater levels of post-shift worry. ERS telecommunication agencies aiming to reduce negative emotions in workers may benefit from implementing policies and programs that target working hours, call load, and work-life balance.


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    Acknowledgments


    This work was supported by the University of Arizona Canyon Ranch Center for Prevention & Health Promotion. We gratefully acknowledge the time and effort provided by study participants. In addition, we acknowledge the assistance of Caitlin Fung, Trishala Basana, and Kasey Varley. We acknowledge the support of the University of Arizona Collaboratory for Metabolic Disease Prevention and Treatment.

    Conflict of interest


    Matthew Hoang is employed by Tenet Healthcare. Devan Gengler is employed by Cigna Healthcare. Patricia Haynes has a professional services agreement with the City of Tucson as part of her University of Arizona appointment. All other authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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