EMS Perspectives on Coping with Child Death in an Out-of-Hospital Setting |
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| Authors: | Anita P. Barbee Mary E. Fallat Richard Forest Mary E. McClure Katy Henry Michael R. Cunningham |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Kent School of Social Work, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA;2. Department of Surgery, School of Medicine Work, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA;3. Kosair Children's Hospital Pediatric Bereavement Care Program, Louisville, Kentucky, USA;4. Department of Communication, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA |
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| Abstract: | To understand the ways that EMS providers cope with pediatric death in an out-of-hospital setting, eight focus groups were conducted with 98 urban, rural, and suburban EMS providers. Sixty-eight of the participants also completed a short questionnaire about a specific event. In both the focus groups and questionnaire, participants were asked how they individually coped with the death, how they coped as a team, and what coping strategies were most and least helpful. Specific coping strategies were found to be helpful to EMS providers, and could be classified as Solve, Solace, Dismiss, and Escape based on whether they approached or avoided the problem or the emotion. |
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| Keywords: | Coping EMS pediatric death traumatic events |
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