Reducing stress factors in EMS: report of a national survey

The existence of stress, coping with stress, and the effects of stress in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) are highly current and hotly debated subjects. This article describes in part the results of a national survey of 25 EMS systems in 24 large metropolitan areas. The portion of the survey reported here focused on sources of stress and programs available to promote more effective coping with stres. Results are discussed generally and in terms of the services' organizational affiliations.