Military firefighters are constantly exposed to adverse situations in different contexts, including
fires, floods and automobile accidents, among others. As such, effective results are demanded
from these professionals regarding their actions and they face constant pressure. Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD) is one of these stressors. It is one of the most prevalent pathologies
exactly because of this association between extreme situations and required performance, and it
is a mental disturbance that arises from the situations experienced or witnessed by these
individuals. This study seeks to study the presence of PTSD symptoms and to evaluate
recognition memory in military firefighters of the State of Rio de Janeiro. A cross-sectional
study was carried out based on a quantitative analysis applying 62 questionnaires, scales and
tests to active firefighters in three departments in the heartland of Rio de Janeiro. The
participants willingly provided information on sociodemographic data through a general
questionnaire, in addition to answering questions about the characteristics and contextualization
of traumatic experiences through the PCL-5 and LEC-5 and evaluating memory through the
psychological recognition memory test (TEM-R). A PTSD prevalence of 10.3% was found.
Although no association between PTSD and the investigated sociodemographic variables was
identified, a negative correlation was found between PTSD symptoms and performance in the
memory test (r = -0.258; p<0.05). A worse overall performance in the memory test among
those with PTSD was also found. The present findings reinforce the need for further studies
investigating the relationship between post-traumatic stress and memory changes.