Table 3 Categories, sub-categories derived from the study

Stress as an Unavoidable Factor

Work Under Stress

• Stress resulting from perceived time loss when managing trauma patients.

• Increased anxiety experienced by some novice technicians in response to the screams and shouts of patient companions.

Stress among emergency personnel due to the high volume of sirens.

Associating your Family in the Face of Life-Threatening Conditions

• Concerns regarding incident reporting near the technician’s residence, stemming from fears of harm to relatives.

• The emotional pain associated with witnessing traumatic scenes involving children, as they evoke thoughts of one’s own child.

The association of deceased loved ones when encountering critically ill patients.

Worrying about the Patient’s Fate

• The importance of following up on patient conditions after missions to assess outcomes and the effectiveness of interventions.

• Monitoring patient status after their transfer to treatment centers.

Worries about the future of a child who loses their parents at a trauma scene.

Emotional Impasse

Long-Term Mental Occupation of the Technician with the Encounter Scene

• Mental preoccupation for technicians engaged in saving the lives of patients with severe, incurable conditions.

• Long-term emotional distress arising from the patient’s tone and pleas for help.

Ongoing mental turmoil hours after an incident due to the loss of a patient.

The Feeling of Guilt Despite Trying as Much as Possible

• Feelings of guilt related to the possibility of failing to fulfill professional duties.

• Guilt associated with the loss of a patient.

Guilt experienced following the loss of a life-threatening trauma patient.

Emotional Distress in Certain Groups

• Dysfunction and an inability to manage emotions when faced with severely injured children.

• Inability to continue a shift due to exposure to the distressing scene of a child’s death.

Heightened sensitivity towards children and pregnant women at the scene of incidents.