Philly FD Helps with First Responder COVID-19 Stress Study

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The Philadelphia Fire Department has teamed up with Drexel University to look at the stress and mental health of first responders during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study has been running for six months, and Drexel researchers led by Dr. Jennifer Taylor are still looking at the data, WPVI-TV reports. But Philadelphia's Deputy EMS Commissioner Crystal Yates has already seen first-hand how the pandemic has affected the mental outlook of those in her department.

"I think that we are having stresses coming from multiple angles—like a pressure cooker as we term it—like, 'You're getting it! You're getting it,'" Yates told WPVI.

Researchers for the six-month study conducted a COVID-19 rapid mental health assessment with the Philadelphia Fire Department and 16 other fire departments. Although the data is still being examined, some preliminary findings have emerged.

"It's interesting because we are seeing some places around the country—not uniform—but we'll see spikes in anxiety, spikes in depression," Taylor told WPVI. "One of the things that's concerning most is increases in intent to leave the profession."

Taylor said she hopes to have some data for fire departments to use by the end of the year. But the biggest challenge for researchers is making the study doesn't run out of money.

"It behooves us to try to find the funding to keep going, so that we can continue to measure, especially as we enter the second wave," Taylor told WPVI.