Stress level assessment in voluntary firefighters from the province of Cordoba

Abstract

In emergency systems, stress plays a fundamental role, since by its nature the emergency never ceases to be novel, because it cannot be fully anticipated until it has manifested itself.  The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate the level of stress that the volunteer firemen of the Province of Cordoba have. The instrument was applied to a representative sample of 306 firefighters from 17 institutions, from risk topography areas (mountain ranges) and from the plain. An exploratory, transversal and observational study was carried out using the "Stress Impact Scale-Revised" (EIE-R) version presented in 1997 by Weiss and Marmar. Results: From the evaluation of stress it was found that 36.07% present emotional discomfort linked to the measured dimensions of stress, with 110 cases in the category with stress. Of the dimensions of stress in the high scores, 95 cases showed hyperactivity (31.15%), 91 intrusion (29.74%) and 78 avoidance (25.49%). The results show that discomfort was associated with the educational level of firefighters, linking a higher level of stress at the lowest educational level (p<0.05) compared to the full university level. It is concluded that of the total sample studied, more than one third shows a level of emotional discomfort linked to stress.