I bring you a weekly bite-sized chunk of the science behind helicopter human factors and CRM in practice, simplifying the complex and distilling a helicopter related study into a summary of less than 500 words.
TITLE:
Wellbeing of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services Personnel in a Challenging Work Context: A Qualitative Study
WHAT?
Study exploring factors influencing the wellbeing of HEMS personnel. Rather than measuring psychological symptoms, it examines how HEMS professionals perceive their work context, cope with stressors, and maintain wellbeing despite frequent exposure to potentially traumatic events.
WHERE?
Conducted with a university hospital–based HEMS team in the Netherlands, involving physicians, nurses, & helicopter crew members.
WHEN?
Published 2023.
WHY?
HEMS personnel operate in a demanding environment, characterised by frequent exposure to severe trauma, high workload, and operational pressures. Despite this, previous research suggests relatively high levels of resilience and job satisfaction. This study aimed to understand why, and to identify factors that organisations can target to support wellbeing and sustainable performance.
HOW?
16 HEMS personnel in different roles participated in semi-structured interviews. They were asked about their daily work, stressful events, teamwork, coping strategies, and support systems. Researchers’ analysis identified five core categories influencing well-being and resilience in HEMS work. These were: team and collaboration; coping; procedures; informal peer support; organisational support; and follow-up care. Five secondary categories were identified: drives and motivation; attitudes; other stressors; potentially traumatic events; emotional impact.
FINDINGS:
Participants described strong team cohesion, trust, and collaboration as central to their wellbeing. Informal peer support (such as checking in on colleagues, humour, and shared reflection) was seen as particularly important. Structured medical and technical debriefs were valued both for learning and emotional processing.
HEMS work was acknowledged to have emotional impact, especially incidents involving children, identification with patients, and exposure to families’ distress. However, participants described multiple coping strategies, including focusing on technical tasks, emotional distancing during missions, discussing cases with colleagues, and drawing support from family life.
Interestingly, the perceived need for formal organisational support or follow-up care was low, with many participants viewing help-seeking as unnecessary unless symptoms became severe. High motivation, meaningful work, and a strong professional identity were seen as key protective factors..
SO WHAT?
The study highlights that wellbeing in HEMS is strongly supported by team culture, informal peer support, clear procedures, and meaningful work. For aviation leaders and CRM practitioners, this shows that everyday team culture matters more than formal programmes or structured psychological interventions. It further reinforces the importance of fostering open communication, psychological safety, and effective debriefing practices as part of everyday operations.
At the same time, the findings raise potential concerns as high motivation, strong operational drive, and low help-seeking behaviours may mask emerging distress and discourage timely support. The study therefore suggests that wellbeing initiatives in HEMS should be embedded within existing team practices and operational routines, rather than relying solely on stand-alone support services.
REFERENCE:
van Herpen, M. M., Nieuwe Weme, D., de Leeuw, M. A., Colenbrander, R. J., Olff, M., & te Brake, H. (2023). Wellbeing of helicopter emergency medical services personnel in a challenging work context: A qualitative study. Prehospital Emergency Care. https://doi.org/10.1080/10903127.2023.2184885
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