Empirical Partial Results on the Working Environment of the On-Duty Staff of the Disaster Management Service and the Psychological Effects Caused by Emergency Calls

Abstract

Introduction: Our previous study published a comprehensive study on the impact of organisational culture and health status on the work environment of the County Operations Management Service under the County Operations Department of the National Directorate General of Disaster Management of the Ministry of the Interior. In this article, we present the perceptions of the examined staff about the working environment and the effects caused by those requesting emergency calls.

Aims: One of the objectives of our comprehensive research was to get to know the ergonomic conditions of the working environment of the staff and to reveal the psychological burden of emergency calls on the staff.

Methods: The data collection took place in the second half of 2024, using a questionnaire. A total of 347 people filled out the questionnaire, nationwide, 84% of the total population at that time. The data obtained were processed using the SPSS Statistics 25 programme.

Results: Based on the results, the evaluation of computer technical conditions exceeded the theoretical average (M = 3.34; SD = 1.31; t[346] = 4.84; p < 0.001), which indicates that employees generally consider the technical equipment to be adequate. Only in the case of several physical-ergonomic factors did the evaluations fall significantly short of the theoretical average. The greatest psychological burden during the reception of calls from those requesting assistance was caused by aggressive communication (M = 4.57; SD = 2.61) and announcements in an abusive tone (M = 4.57; SD = 2.86).

Conclusion: The workload of dispatch services is subject to a dual challenge: physical ergonomics and psychological strain. The yellow results correspond with a high critical probability to the general workload factors of other dispatch services performing the task. This pattern suggests that, in addition to technical and ergonomic developments, the most effective interventions should be sought in the targeted support of the emotional resilience and psychological coping strategies of on-duty personnel, which offers solutions that are relevant and standardisable for the entire sector.