Diagnosis and Treatment of PTSD in Emergency Service Workers

Health professionals often play a central role in the provision of healthcare to communities in the immediate, acute phase of emergency situations and, on an ongoing basis for the long-term recovery of individuals and their broader community. Emergency Service Workers are one of the high-risk groups for trauma exposure and are at a high risk of developing mental health problems. These mental health conditions have significant impact on their employment, family/relationships, and wellbeing.

This workshop has been designed to assist GPs and other health professionals to diagnose patients with acute stress disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and other co morbidities. Evidence based guidelines will be used as the foundation to appropriately diagnose and identify treatment pathways including recommended referrals, trauma focused psychological therapy and psychological first aid to help support their management of emergency service workers.

Learning outcomes:

By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Recognise responses to trauma in emergency service workers, their families and kinship groups
• Identify validated screening and assessment tools for common mental health conditions related to trauma
• Apply evidence-based treatment/management plan for a patient impacted by trauma 
• Identify a range of appropriate referral pathways and collaborative care options
• Identify and use self-care strategies and resources to manage their own mental health and wellbeing