Better management of PTSD for frontline workers

Updated guidelines for the management of PTSD among emergency service workers have been developed by researchers.

Emergency service workers are twice as likely to experience mental health problems when compared with the general population — in large part due to the high risk of trauma exposure at work. In addition, an estimated one in 10 of Australia’s 370,000+ emergency workers and volunteers will develop PTSD related to critical incidents.

The guidelines launched by the Black Dog Institute and UNSW Sydney have been created with a specific focus on the emergency services community in Victoria, using real-world evidence to understand and address the unique challenges faced by this group.

Over recent years, Victoria has experienced devastating bushfires and floods, exposing frontline workers to heightened levels of stress and increased risk of trauma exposure at work. As the likelihood of these events increase due to climate change, the mental health of emergency responders is under growing pressure.

“We want to make sure that any emergency service workers or volunteers in Victoria that come forward for treatment of PTSD know that they’re getting the best quality treatment, and the treatment that is most likely to work,” said lead co-author Professor Sam Harvey, Executive Director and Chief Scientist of Black Dog Institute.

“We now have a range of different treatment options that are effective for PTSD in emergency service workers, including talking therapies and a range of pharmaceutical treatments. If someone doesn’t get better with initial treatment, there are a range of other evidence-based treatments that should be tried.”

A report now consolidates the best available research evidence to provide clinicians with clear guidelines on how to diagnose and treat emergency workers with PTSD.

This includes clinical data from Black Dog Institute and UNSW’s National Emergency Worker Support Service (NEWSS). Since its launch in 2020, NEWSS has reached more than 205,000 emergency service workers and achieved a world-leading PTSD recovery rate of 70–80%, compared to a global average of around 50–60%.

“Treating an emergency service worker with PTSD is fundamentally different to treating PTSD in the general population,” said lead co-author Professor Richard Bryant, Director of the Trauma Stress Clinic at UNSW.

“Australia is now leading the world in the way we care for and treat emergency service workers with PTSD. These guidelines aim to share what we have learnt through more than half a decade of working with this population, to lift quality of care across Australia and internationally.”

Image credit: iStock.com/Shengsheng Zhao. Stock image used is for illustrative purposes only.