Empathy as a component of the professional competence of the emergency medical service dispatcher

The article highlights the problem of empathy of emergency medical service dispatchers, since it is the dispatcher who is the first person with whom a person comes into contact in a crisis situation. The sample of researchers consisted of 63 people, mostly from the eastern regions of Ukraine, who were divided into groups based on gender, place of residence, and length of service. The results of an empirical study of the features of empathy as a component of the professional competence of the E(S)MH dispatcher are presented. The distribution of E(S)MH service personnel depending on the levels of emotional intelligence components is determined; compared to the previous year, depending on different types of activities, the presence of problems with work or other regular daily activities due to physical health, emotional problems that also interfere with normal social life with family, friends, etc. The empirical study made it possible to state that about half of the study subjects are characterized by an average integrative level of emotional intelligence, who are able to manage their emotions at a high level, low levels of self-motivation and empathy; a high level of emotional intelligence is characteristic of only one tenth of the study subjects. There are statistically significant differences in emotional intelligence and its components among EMS workers depending on their gender, place of residence and length of service: men living in rural areas have twice as high levels of emotional intelligence, emotional awareness, emotion management, empathy and recognition of other people's emotions as men living in cities and women, regardless of their place of residence; male medical professionals with 11 to 20 years of work experience show significantly higher levels of empathy compared to women with this work experience; women are characterized by a gradual decrease in the level of empathy with the acquisition of experience during their professional career; regardless of the length of service, men's empathy scores are slightly higher than women's, which, in turn, indicates that men are easier to adapt to difficult working conditions; the highest rates of emotional intelligence, as well as empathy, were found in men with work experience from 21 to 30 years. Prospects for further research in the context of creating a program of education and training for the development of empathic skills in E(S)Md dispatchers are outlined. It is especially important to pay attention to modeling crisis situations that reflect real challenges in their work and improve communication with potential ambulance patients