Empirical literature examining the health and wellness of emergency responders has continued to grow over the past decade. Yet there is a relative absence of literature on 911 telecommunicators, who are often the "first, first responders" in an emergency. Examination of work-related factors that enhance risk for stress and adverse outcomes may improve current prevention and intervention efforts in this population. Civilian 911 calltakers and dispatchers from the state of California (N = 833) participated in an online study to...

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9-1-1 telecommunicators are uniquely exposed to numerous occupational stressors on an ongoing basis. Yet little is known about the sources of occupational stress and symptoms of stress in these workers and even less is known about variables that can serve as stressors or buffers to stress in the 9-1-1 call center work environment. We sought to explore the inter-relationships amongst job stressors, potential risk and protective factors, and symptoms of stress in 9-1-1 telecommunicators. Our long-term goal was to use outcomes of this study to guide and...

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