Heroes in Red: Traumatic Event Exposure Linked to Reduced Wellbeing Among a Cohort of U.S. Ski Patrollers

IntroductionSki patrollers face unique occupational risks and may be exposed to traumatic events. This study aimed to determine the relationship between traumatic event exposures and wellbeing among a cohort of U.S. ski patrollers.MethodsA non-experimental, descriptive, longitudinal design was followed to complete a pilot study. An online survey was employed with repeated measures (1, 2, & 3 months). Participants were conveniently sampled from one ski resort in the Western United States. This study was informed by the stress continuum model.ResultsA total of 29 participants completed at least one follow-up survey and were included as the analytic sample. Participants were primarily White (<i>n</i> = 27, 93.10%), non-Hispanic or Latino (<i>n</i> = 27, 93.10%), and male (<i>n</i> = 19, 65.52%), aged 39.07 on average. Three-quarters of participants reported exposure to traumatic events at Survey 1 (<i>n</i> = 22, 75.86%), and the frequency ranged from 1 to 20 events. Increased frequency of traumatic events by each one event was significantly related to decreased wellbeing levels over 3 months (β = -0.0253, <i>p</i> < .0001, 95% CI: [-0.0364, -0.0141]), after controlling for age, sex, race, ethnicity, marital status, and working hours. When included as an interaction term, resilience was found to buffer the negative effect of traumatic event exposure on wellbeing (β = -0.0068, <i>p</i> < .0001, 95% CI: [-0.0099, -0.0038]).ConclusionsFindings underscore the need for additional research to identify the most effective ways to support the wellbeing and resilience of ski patrollers.