Key result
During general duty calls for service, police officers experienced significantly higher cardiovascular reactivity during the encounter phase compared to the dispatch phase.
Why the study?
Policing involves high stress and health risks, but objective mapping of officers autonomic stress responses to specific call phases and incident factors during duty calls was needed.
Do general duty calls for service and incident factors increase physiological stress responses in active duty police officers?
Population
64 police officers during general duty calls for service and interactions with the public
Comparison
Heart rate mapping across call phases, incident factors, physical movement, and officer characteristics
Design
Observational study
Authors
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May warrant phase-specific stress awareness during police calls; leaves open links to performance or long-term cardiovascular risk.
Observational (n=64)
No
Do general duty calls for service and incident factors increase physiological stress responses in active duty police officers?
Absolute Event Rate: 59.46% vs 35.07%
p-value: p=<0.001
Police officers experience physiological stress responses that vary significantly by the phase of a call and specific incident factors, which may impact short-term performance and long-term health.
Baldwin et al. (2019) conducted an observational in Occupational stress in police officers (n=64). General duty calls for service (encounter phase) vs. Dispatch phase was evaluated on Cardiovascular reactivity (HRpeak above resting) (p=<0.001). During general duty calls for service, police officers experienced significantly higher cardiovascular reactivity during the encounter phase compared to the dispatch phase.
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