Relaxation and strain among emergency medical service personnel and emergency control center dispatchers during the first two waves of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

BACKGROUND

Workloads of emergency medical service personnel (EMP) and emergency control center dispatchers (CCDs) were manifold. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic presented new challenges for the prehospital emergency medical service. The purpose of this study was to compare the status of stress/strain and recovery of Recovery-Stress Questionnaire among EMP and CCDs in Germany during the first 2 waves of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic both between occupational groups and over time.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A total of 2426 emergency medical service personnel and control center dispatchers were questioned with the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire based on Kallus. The results from the first 2 waves of the pandemic (June-August 2020 and January-February 2021) were compared.

RESULTS

During the first and second wave of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the subjectively perceived stress of emergency medical service personnel and control center dispatchers increased, but recovery decreased. The CCDs showed more unfavorable values compared to EMP.

CONCLUSIONS

Health promotion interventions are necessary to counteract possible career changes or mental or other diseases due to insufficient management. Med Pr Work Health Saf. 2023;74(5):353-62.

The Janus-faced effects of COVID-19 perceptions on family healthy eating behavior: Parent's negative experience as a mediator and gender as a moderator

This research examines the effects of COVID‐19 perceptions and negative experiences during the pandemic time on parental healthy eating behavior and whether these relationships interact with a parent’s gender. We ran a survey of parents who had at least one child aged 3 to 17 years old living in the United Kingdom. We received 384 valid responses, which were analysed via a variance‐based structural equation modeling approach to test our hypotheses. The results revealed that COVID‐19 perceptions effects were Janus‐faced. While they indirectly and negatively impact healthy eating behavior mediated by triggering negative experiences during the pandemic, COVID‐19 perceptions, however, directly get parents, especially fathers, more engaged into healthy eating behavior – making COVID‐19 perceptions total effects positive on healthy eating behavior. This explorative model is novel in the sense that it is the first of its kind to cast light on how parental healthy eating behavior can be shaped in pandemic time. The research is particularly timely due to the uncertain times in which the research is situated, that is, the worldwide pandemic (also termed COVID‐19); the paper highlights how family eating practices can undergo dramatic shifts during acute crises.