The ANOVA yielded significant results in the domains of fear of mortality, acceptance of mortality, and disengagement from mortality, supporting the hypothesis that EMTs would demonstrate greater awareness of mortality in these domains compared to members of the general public. While they face similar job stressors such as patient deaths, the nature of their response is on the periphery of the first responder's sphere and can be seen as the last link in the emergency response chain. Most of the non-EMT participants were students at Alfred University or members of the surrounding community.
Non-EMT participants enrolled in an Introduction to Psychology course at Alfred University at the time of the study were offered two research credits in exchange for their participation. Participants enrolled in an Introduction to Psychology course at Alfred University at the time of the study received research credits in return for their participation. After the consent portion of the study was completed, participants were instructed to answer the demographic questionnaire, which identified factors such as age and gender.
The study concluded with the presentation of the reporting form (see Appendix E), and participants were informed about the resources available to them in case of emotional distress and a brief overview of the study. MMAMM Likert ratings ranged from 1 (totally unrelated) to 5 (totally related) and were summed for each of the five dimensions. The dependent variable was participants' score on each of the five domains of the Multidimensional Mortality Awareness Model (MMAMM).
Five one-way ANOVA tests were run to measure the difference between non-EMTs and EMTs across all five domains of the MMAMM. These results supported the initial hypothesis that EMTs would demonstrate greater mortality awareness than their non-EMT counterparts, as measured by their scores on the MMAMM domains Mortality Fearfulness, Mortality Acceptance, and Mortality Disengagement. Simply put, based on the results of these findings, EMTs show lower death anxiety scores than non-EMTs, are more accepting of the concept of their own death than non-EMTs, and are less disengaged with the concept of mortality than the non-EMT control group.
Therefore, through this study we are only able to conclude that EMTs show a heightened sense of mortality awareness than members of the general public, but we are unable to say whether this is a cause for concern or an indication of coming to terms with one's personal mortality. The significant results of the Chi Square analysis between EMTs/non-EMTs and DNRs indicate that experience as an EMT can change one's view of personal DNRs (see Table 2). This experiment was able to demonstrate a significant interaction between EMTs and non-EMTs, personal views on DNR, and mortality awareness across three of the five domains tested by the MMAMM.
Of the 153 EMTs in this study, 20% of the EMTs who participated in this study responded that they had previously been diagnosed by a mental health professional with PTSD. However, EMTs in this study were not given the option of not seeking support after a code, so the forced-choice nature of the question may be a limitation in the interpretation of these findings. 31 I feel scared when I think about time flying fast 22 The idea of death makes me feel helpless.
Please select the labels that most accurately describe the nature of the CPR calls you experienced.
Consent Form
The data will be kept for at least three years after the end of the study, after which the data may be destroyed at the discretion of the researcher. If you decide to participate, you are free to withdraw at any time without penalty. If you have questions about your participation in this study that you would like to ask before participating, please opt out of this survey and contact the researcher electronically at [email protected].
If you have any questions now, or later, about research integrity (research subjects' rights or research-related injuries, where applicable), we encourage you to contact Dr. Gagne, Chair of the Alfred University Human Subjects Research Committee, at or electronically at [email protected]. You are invited to participate in a research study that analyzes the characteristics of people who are not emergency medical technicians (EMTs).
This study is being conducted by Beryl Torthe, Honors Candidate at Alfred University in the Department of Psychology. Although unlikely, it is possible that you may feel uncomfortable considering some of the survey items dealing with potentially distressing situations. You are free to discontinue your participation at any time during the study by simply exiting the survey.
If you are currently enrolled in Introduction to Psychology, you will receive 2 credits towards your research credits. Participating in this study may give you some additional knowledge about psychology-related research, and we hope that your participation will contribute to this knowledge base. The primary participants in this study were emergency medical technicians, paramedics, or other first responders.
If you are not one of the above, you participated as a member of the general population and served as a comparison group. The results of this study will contribute to the field of mental health among first responders. If you are experiencing psychological distress as a result of participating in this study, please contact a mental health agency.
