The 5RF resilience project

The 5RF is designed to help individuals exposed to high stress become more psychologically resilient, better able to cope with stress and less likely to be psychologically injured. The 5RF was developed by studying a group of workers in a job with very high stress exposure, emergency medical workers. This includes paramedics, dispatchers and others working within the emergency medical context. It builds on a research project to identify critical resilient coping skills in the Emergency Medical Services workforce.

The research project was conducted by Vancouver Psych Safety Consulting in collaboration with British Columbia Emergency Health Services (BCEHS), University of British Columbia Department of Psychology and Ambulance Paramedics of British Columbia (CUPE 873).

The research was funded by WorkSafeBC through its First Responder Mental Health Committee. Over a three year period, we learned from EMS workers what makes high stress more manageable, coping strategies they use to keep themselves psychologically safe. Whether paramedics or dispatchers, they are exposed to intense ongoing stress and have gathered a lot of wisdom about how to cope in a psychologically safe way. Their wisdom needs to be shared with everyone!

The research team which carried out the project included: 1. Dr. Dan Bilsker and Dr. Merv Gilbert of Vancouver Psych Safety; 2. Dr. Ingrid Sochting and Dr. Lynn Alden of the University of British Columbia.

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(If you have any difficulties downloading the document, please contact Adam Hunter at adam@psychsafety.org.)