{"title":"The weight of words: a scoping review of depression and suicidal ideation among 911 call takers and dispatchers.","authors":"Deepika Rani, Gillian Foley, Camryn Lynn, Doug Johnson, Tim William, Marcella Siqueira Cassiano","doi":"10.1186/s40352-025-00376-y","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Communicators in public safety, such as 911 telecommunicators, emergency medical dispatchers, and police and fire dispatchers, frequently deal with distressing calls, traumatic narratives, and high-stakes decisions. Despite not being physically present at crisis scenes, these experts endure psychological stress on par with first responders. This scoping review examines the prevalence and determinants of depression and suicidal ideation among public safety communicators and their co-occurrence, summarizes the occupational and personal risk factors contributing to these outcomes, and evaluates proposed mitigation strategies.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The research indicates that depression is reported at elevated rates in this workforce, ranging from 8.4% to 73%, depending on the population and the sensitivity of the instrument, based on 11 quantitative studies published between 1995 and 2025. Although less studied, suicidal ideation appears to be significantly higher in this group compared to the general population. Contributing factors include indirect trauma exposure, shift work, emotional suppression, organizational neglect, and a history of trauma. The frequent co-occurrence of depression and suicidal ideation supports the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide as a relevant explanatory framework.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Despite accumulating evidence, research is methodologically limited due to cross-sectional designs, inconsistent screening tools, and sample homogeneity. Existing interventions, such as peer support, debriefing, and trauma-informed training, are inconsistently applied and under-evaluated. The findings highlight a pressingneed for longitudinal research, targeted interventions, and workplace reforms that take into account the unique psychological burdens associated with communicator roles. Addressing depression and suicide risk among these professionals is critical to ensuring both workforce well-being and the continued effectiveness of public safety systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":37843,"journal":{"name":"Health and Justice","volume":"13 1","pages":"66"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12595646/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Health and Justice","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-025-00376-y","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Communicators in public safety, such as 911 telecommunicators, emergency medical dispatchers, and police and fire dispatchers, frequently deal with distressing calls, traumatic narratives, and high-stakes decisions. Despite not being physically present at crisis scenes, these experts endure psychological stress on par with first responders. This scoping review examines the prevalence and determinants of depression and suicidal ideation among public safety communicators and their co-occurrence, summarizes the occupational and personal risk factors contributing to these outcomes, and evaluates proposed mitigation strategies.
Results: The research indicates that depression is reported at elevated rates in this workforce, ranging from 8.4% to 73%, depending on the population and the sensitivity of the instrument, based on 11 quantitative studies published between 1995 and 2025. Although less studied, suicidal ideation appears to be significantly higher in this group compared to the general population. Contributing factors include indirect trauma exposure, shift work, emotional suppression, organizational neglect, and a history of trauma. The frequent co-occurrence of depression and suicidal ideation supports the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide as a relevant explanatory framework.
Conclusions: Despite accumulating evidence, research is methodologically limited due to cross-sectional designs, inconsistent screening tools, and sample homogeneity. Existing interventions, such as peer support, debriefing, and trauma-informed training, are inconsistently applied and under-evaluated. The findings highlight a pressingneed for longitudinal research, targeted interventions, and workplace reforms that take into account the unique psychological burdens associated with communicator roles. Addressing depression and suicide risk among these professionals is critical to ensuring both workforce well-being and the continued effectiveness of public safety systems.
期刊介绍：
Health & Justice is open to submissions from public health, criminology and criminal justice, medical science, psychology and clinical sciences, sociology, neuroscience, biology, anthropology and the social sciences, and covers a broad array of research types. It publishes original research, research notes (promising issues that are smaller in scope), commentaries, and translational notes (possible ways of introducing innovations in the justice system). Health & Justice aims to: Present original experimental research on the area of health and well-being of people involved in the adult or juvenile justice system, including people who work in the system; Present meta-analysis or systematic reviews in the area of health and justice for those involved in the justice system; Provide an arena to present new and upcoming scientific issues; Present translational science—the movement of scientific findings into practice including programs, procedures, or strategies; Present implementation science findings to advance the uptake and use of evidence-based practices; and, Present protocols and clinical practice guidelines. As an open access journal, Health & Justice aims for a broad reach, including researchers across many disciplines as well as justice practitioners (e.g. judges, prosecutors, defenders, probation officers, treatment providers, mental health and medical personnel working with justice-involved individuals, etc.). The sections of the journal devoted to translational and implementation sciences are primarily geared to practitioners and justice actors with special attention to the techniques used.
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