Cortisol levels and perceived stress in emergency call operators

Kinga Kulczycka^1*Beata Chilimoniuk²Anna Rymuszka¹Ewa Stychno¹Agnieszka Bałanda - Bałdyga³Klaudia Pałucka¹

• ¹The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland
• ²Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Lublin, Poland
• ³Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University, Warsaw, Masovian, Poland

Introduction: Emergency medical dispatchers are required to provide support to the caller and organize help at the scene, frequently facing demanding situations where assistance decisions must be made promptly. The aim of this study is to assess the level of stress experienced by medical dispatchers and emergency call operators, in relation to their well-being and physical health symptoms.A study was conducted in 2023 involving 26 healthy individuals employed as emergency medical dispatchers and emergency call operators, aged 26 to 65, from the Lublin Voivodeship. Data was collected based on continuous observation conducted over a 12-hour day shift, utilizing the JAWS and VAS questionnaires and assessing every 2 hours the following: salivary cortisol levels, heart rate, and blood pressure.The employee's level of arousal correlated with cortisol levels and significantly decreased during working hours, B = -13.87, SE = 5.16, p = .009. Among women, there was an increase in average heart rate during subsequent work hours, B = 47.4, SE = 22.0, p = .035. At the end of the workday, longer emergency caller interactions correlated with lower employee heart rates, B = -0.57, SE = 0.28, p = .046. Systolic blood pressure significantly increased with a rise in subjective stress assessment, but only during the first two hours of work, B = 16.20, SE = 5.63, p = .005. Diastolic pressure depended on the employee group; among medical dispatchers, diastolic pressure values were higher at the beginning of the shift compared to the end, B = -40.2, SE = 23.9, p = .098, while an opposite trend with increased diastolic pressure was observed among 112 call operators.The cortisol profile is typical in the group of study participants. Attitude towards work correlates with physiological stress parameters. Longer conversations with an emergency caller during the final hours of work lead to a reduction in employees' heart rates. Women exhibit an increase in heart rate as work progresses. Systolic blood pressure reflects subjective stress assessment during the first two hours of work. Blood pressure values indicate a higher stress level in the 112 call operators group.