Abstract

Introduction: Firefighters constitute a high-risk group because they are exposed to a diversity of adverse experiences. In Chile, there are no studies on the impact of these experiences on these professionals. The purpose of the present study was to compare three groups of firefighters with different levels of peritraumatic dissociation (PD), to evaluate the differences in exposure to critical events, post-traumatic stress, mental health symptoms, and coping strategies. Method: 239 Chilean firefighters filled out the assessment protocol in their workplaces. The sample was divided into three groups, firefighters with PD (n= 54), firefighters with some symptoms of PD (n=111) and without PD (n=74). One way ANOVA was used to compare these groups. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the predicted effect of those variables on peritraumatic dissociation. Results: Firefighters with PD reported higher exposure to critical experiences, more symptoms of post-traumatic stress, more mental health symptoms and higher use of emotion-focused coping styles, and dysfunctional coping strategies than the firefighters without PD. Multiple regression analysis revealed that emotion-focused coping, dysfunctional coping strategies, and perceived threat related to the exposures most strongly predicted peritraumatic dissociation. Discussion: The results show that the presence of peritraumatic dissociation symptoms constituted a risk for mental health and post-traumatic stress symptoms in Chilean firefighters. The prevention of these symptoms and the identification of those firefighters who develop peritraumatic dissociation is necessary. Training should focus on alternative coping strategies to help firefighters manage their exposure to a critical incident.