Helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) personnel provide on-scene trauma care to patients with high mortality risk. The HEMS work context is characterized by an exceptionally high exposure to critical incidents, emotionally demanding patient encounters, and having to perform under pressure with limited resources. The aim of this study was to further our understanding of the factors underlying HEMS personnel wellbeing given their challenging work context.

Sixteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with HEMS personnel from a University Hospital in The Netherlands. Interview topics included work context, personal characteristics, coping, work engagement, and psychosocial support. To analyze the data, a generic qualitative research approach was used inspired by grounded theory, including open, axial and selective coding.

The analysis revealed ten categories that provide insight into factors underlying the wellbeing of HEMS personnel and their work context: team and collaboration, coping, procedures, informal peer support, organizational support and follow-up care, drives and motivations, attitudes, other stressors, potentially traumatic events, and emotional impact. The findings show that HEMS personnel are highly motivated and have a strong team mentality. Various factors are important to their wellbeing, such as job resources and social support. The HEMS work can have an emotional impact but HEMS personnel use various coping strategies to deal with this. The perceived need for organizational support and follow-up care is low among participants.

This study identifies factors and strategies that support the wellbeing of HEMS personnel. It also provides insight into the HEMS work culture and help-seeking behavior in this population. The findings may be beneficial to understand and support employee wellbeing in other emergency services work contexts as well.