OCTOBER 24, 2025
Enzo G. Plaitano, BA, NRP
PhD Candidate, The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice
Predoctoral Fellow, Center for Technology and Behavioral Health
About the Presentation: Emergency medical services (EMS) clinicians, including EMTs and Paramedics, are repeatedly exposed to work-related stressors. Over ⅓ of EMS clinicians report using substances to cope with work-related stress. This CTBH P30-funded pilot study examined how EMS clinicians cope with work-related stress in real-life environments. We recruited a national sample of 110 EMS clinicians to answer brief surveys multiple times a day for one month about their perceived stress, emotion regulation, and substance use. The objective was to examine if real-time changes in perceived stress or emotion regulation throughout the day impacted real-time substance use. The ultimate goal of this study was to identify modifiable momentary predictors of substance use to inform development of future just-in-time adaptive interventions for this high-risk population.
About the Presenter: Enzo is a 4th year PhD Candidate and Predoctoral Fellow at the Dartmouth Center for Technology and Behavioral Health (CTBH). Formerly, he was a Predoctoral Trainee in the NIH-NIDA T32 Science of Co-occurring Disorders Training Program within CTBH before transitioning to his own award. Enzo’s NIH-NIDA Individual Predoctoral Fellowship Grant (1F31DA062393) and CTBH P30 Pilot Grant (P30DA029926) focus on identifying modifiable momentary predictors of substance use in high-risk emergency medical services clinicians.
Enzo’s work is informed by his lived experience as a licensed paramedic. He understands the toll of this tough profession on his own mental health and sees the stress of this job contribute to mental health and substance use problems in his coworkers, impacting their lives, families, and healthcare careers. Therefore, his research methods leverage ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) and intensive longitudinal analysis to assess risk factors for substance use and mental health symptoms in real life environments. He plans to use these findings to develop and test robust digital health interventions to support this high-risk population.
Enzo’s mentors include Drs. Lisa Marsch, Nicholas Jacobson, and Madelyn Frumkin at CTBH. Enzo also collaborates with experts at the National Registry of EMTs, National Association of EMTs, and the National Center for PTSD, receiving wide-spread, national media attention for this novel, pioneering research. Enzo also continues to work clinically as a licensed paramedic and ski patroller in a nearby town.