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1 – 10 of over 3000Andrea M. Headley, Christa Remington, Kaila Witkowski, Santina L. Contreras and Nazife Emel Ganapati
This project specifically aims to examine (1) the individual impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on first responders, (2) the organizational impact of COVID-19 on first…
Abstract
Purpose
This project specifically aims to examine (1) the individual impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on first responders, (2) the organizational impact of COVID-19 on first response agencies and (3) policy and organizational response and support efforts to mitigate potentially harmful effects of the pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors' conducted a mixed-methods analysis, including a review of secondary sources (e.g. government documents, organizational policies and news pieces), state-level policies, encompassing surveys, in-depth semi-structured interviews and PhotoVoice focus groups.
Findings
COVID-19 compounded many of the inherent risks facing first responders and added new stressors. First responders assumed added responsibilities during the pandemic which increased workloads, job-related stress, burnout, distance from the community and first responders' feelings of frustration. Even with personal protective equipment (PPE), first responders faced greater exposure to individuals with COVID-19 and were primarily concerned with transmitting the virus to family members, or other members of the first responders' support networks. State-level COVID-19 policies that were geared toward first responders aimed to improve the first responders' personal lives outside of work and mitigate burnout within the profession. First response agencies adapted to the pandemic by implementing a wide range of measures.
Practical implications
First responders also identified several weaknesses in the first responders' agencies' approach to the pandemic. To prepare for the next public health emergency, first response agencies should proactively train employees, build up the first responders' supplies of equipment and PPE, implement policies to strengthen their workforce (e.g. increase hiring for understaffed positions, reduce turnover and mitigate role abandonment), allow for greater employee autonomy, improve communication between leaders and employees and prioritize employees' mental health, as well as other factors relating to departments' informal culture.
Originality/value
This is one of the largest studies conducted on three types of first responders (police officers, fire firefighters, emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics) across the United States of America during a public health crisis.
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Chad R. Allred and R. Bruce Money
Simple transactions are evolving into complex service relationships that require the attention of multiple organizations. When integrated products fail, customers must determine…
Abstract
Purpose
Simple transactions are evolving into complex service relationships that require the attention of multiple organizations. When integrated products fail, customers must determine which organization is responsible and capable of resolving the problem. If the initial firm contacted cannot resolve the problem, it is then passed on to another until resolution. The objective of this paper is to determine how customer satisfaction with one organization may be moderated by the subsequent performance of another organization following the service issue hand‐off.
Design/methodology/approach
Data otherwise unavailable from the market are collected using a unique, longitudinal internet‐based experiment, wherein customer satisfaction is monitored throughout a complex exchange experience. During the exchange, problem ownership transfers from one firm's service organization to that of another.
Findings
Results show three forms of damage resulting from a service hand‐off: a credibility loss; a dissatisfaction compounding effect; and a resolution delivery failure effect. When problem resolution requires the attention of a second service provider, customer perceptions of the initial service provider are influenced by the performance of the second provider.
Practical implications
A service provider can often avoid substantial damage to customer satisfaction by establishing, a priori, formal back‐end partnerships with other service providers.
Originality/value
Organizations typically do not monitor customer satisfaction once a service problem is abandoned or handed‐off to another organization. In this experimental study, customer satisfaction is carefully monitored as service exchange crosses organizational boundaries during a service experience simulated over the period of one week.
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Gavin David Brown, Ann Largey, Caroline McMullan, Gráinne O'Shea and Niamh Reilly
This study explored the experiences of Irish emergency medical services (EMS) first responders during the first nationwide restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Abstract
Purpose
This study explored the experiences of Irish emergency medical services (EMS) first responders during the first nationwide restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review (SLR) of research into healthcare workers' and first responders' experiences during the COVID-19 and 2003 SARS pandemics was performed. The SLR informed the content of an online questionnaire distributed via the Irish Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council to 2,092 first responders on its live register. Data analysis used both descriptive and content analysis.
Findings
EMS first responders faced many challenges including PPE quality, training on its use, issues with decontamination facilities, and organisational effectiveness. Emotional challenges included the anxiety experienced, the impact on families, and ethical dilemmas confronted related to patient care. Positive findings also emerged, such as first responders' dedication to working through the pandemic, collegiality, and the community goodwill displayed.
Originality/value
While investigations of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers have been undertaken globally, studies focussing exclusively on the experiences of EMS first responders have been rare. This study addressed this knowledge gap, providing an insight into the challenges and successes experienced by first responders and identifying opportunities for learning that can be applied to future public health emergencies.
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A first responder to a crisis acts by stabilizing the situation and preventing further losses to victims. The purpose of this paper is to explore the issue of whether auditors can…
Abstract
Purpose
A first responder to a crisis acts by stabilizing the situation and preventing further losses to victims. The purpose of this paper is to explore the issue of whether auditors can act as first responders to a financial fraud.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper reviews Securities and Exchange (SEC) regulations and auditing practice pronouncements to identify the role of digital evidence in those statements.
Findings
Auditors will act as first responders if such a role is required in SEC regulations or under the auditors' professional practice guidelines. Recent SEC regulations and practice guidelines are reviewed to determine if any such role exists. The effectiveness of a first responder to financial frauds is dependent on the tools they use to evaluate the crisis.
Originality/value
In order for auditors to act effectively, they must carefully take into consideration fraudulent digital documents.
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Johnrev Guilaran and Hong An Nguyen
Disaster responders play a crucial role in providing aid to individuals and communities following catastrophic events. Being tasked to protect and preserve life and property…
Abstract
Disaster responders play a crucial role in providing aid to individuals and communities following catastrophic events. Being tasked to protect and preserve life and property, these groups of professionals are constantly exposed to various hazards, which puts them at risk of negative mental health consequences. This chapter describes and discusses these mental health effects and interventions for disaster responders in Southeast Asia. The chapter defines who the disaster responders are in Southeast Asian countries. Drawing from the literature, this chapter enumerates the various positive and negative psychological consequences of disaster response, and the risk and protective factors associated with disaster response work. This chapter also describes the different interventions, such as psychological first aid and psychotherapy, following the Inter-agency Standing Committee (IASC) (2007) guidelines on conducting mental health and psychosocial support services (MHPSS), and focusing on the Southeast Asian context. This chapter ends with a discussion of the different challenges of providing MHPSS in Southeast Asia and with some recommendations on how to improve the delivery of these services and the mental health of disaster responders in general.
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When a crisis strikes, responders need to make sense of it to gain an understanding of its origins, nature and implications. In this way, crisis sensemaking guides the…
Abstract
Purpose
When a crisis strikes, responders need to make sense of it to gain an understanding of its origins, nature and implications. In this way, crisis sensemaking guides the implementation of the response. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the sensemaking questions that responders need to address for achieving effective and efficient crisis management.
Design/methodology/approach
Data are drawn from six exercises, in which teams of professionals from different crisis organizations were confronted with two terrorist attacks. Just like in real incidents, these professionals convened in tactical response teams and formulated their response collectively.
Findings
The exercises demonstrate that crisis responders do not just have to make sense of the crisis, but also of their own roles and actions. They raise and address three sensemaking questions: What is happening in this crisis? (i.e. situational sensemaking), Who am I in this crisis? (i.e. identity-oriented sensemaking) and How does it matter what I do? (i.e. action-oriented sensemaking).
Practical implications
Crisis preparation tends to focus on plans and systems that accelerate or improve the construction of a situational understanding, while this study suggests the need of more preparatory attention for crisis responders’ roles and actions.
Originality/value
The research extends crisis sensemaking literature beyond the restricted focus on the incident itself by showing that responders are also trying to grasp their own role and how their actions matter when they are engaged in crisis response.
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This paper aims to discuss the current methods of training and education for first response emergency personnel. The goal is to distinguish the difference between training and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to discuss the current methods of training and education for first response emergency personnel. The goal is to distinguish the difference between training and education in an attempt to establish a more operable definition for use within the field.
Design/methodology/approach
The initial approach was to closely examine and compare physical fitness standards and training for first response emergency personnel in the State of California and the US Government.
Findings
Through comparing and contrasting, it was found that while physical fitness standards needed to be additionally governed at the state level, the real issue was a lack of definition in academic literature regarding “training” versus “education.” Furthermore, a lack of focus on the health and physical fitness knowledge in the first response responder population may be putting them at greater risk.
Originality/value
The originality/value of this paper consist in: a critical look at the physical demands of emergency response by first response emergency personnel; and the argumentation for the use of subject matter experts in increasing further knowledge of health and physical fitness in the population of first response emergency personnel and defining the different components to training and education.
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Holly Elisabeth Carter, John Drury, G. James Rubin, Richard Williams and Richard Amlôt
There is an assumption in emergency planning that the public will “panic” or refuse to comply in the event of mass decontamination. This assumption has serious implications for…
Abstract
Purpose
There is an assumption in emergency planning that the public will “panic” or refuse to comply in the event of mass decontamination. This assumption has serious implications for how the public will be managed. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors carried out semi-structured interviews with 13 emergency responders, six of whom had experience of incidents involving decontamination. The authors asked them, first, about their experiences of these events and, second, about their expectations for decontamination involving a large crowd. The aim was to explore the extent to which responders perceived non-compliance and anxiety as (crowd) problems during decontamination, and if so, how they felt that they could be addressed.
Findings
Responders with experience of decontamination perceived non-compliance and excessive anxiety to be rare, and suggested that orderly behaviour was more common. However, the majority of emergency responders with no experience of decontamination said they expected panic and non-compliance. They therefore emphasised the importance of “controlling”, rather than communicating with, the public.
Research limitations/implications
The authors argue that “control”-based emergency management strategies can impact negatively on the relationship between the public and responders, and hence hinder effective management of an incident. It would therefore be beneficial to provide training for emergency responders on likely public behaviour during incidents involving decontamination.
Originality/value
This research extends previous research by facilitating a detailed understanding of emergency responders’ experiences and perceptions of managing incidents involving decontamination, and showing how these experiences and perceptions can affect the way in which such incidents are managed.
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Kellie ODare, Chris Bator, Lance Butler, Jeffrey Orrange, Lauren Porter, Michelle Rehbein, John Dilks, Dana R. Dillard, Erin King, Joseph Herzog and Robert Rotunda
The purpose of this paper is to articulate the results of a comprehensive literature review and grassroots outreach with first responder organizations to present an…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to articulate the results of a comprehensive literature review and grassroots outreach with first responder organizations to present an operationalized framework for organizations to utilize as a blueprint in developing customized behavioral health access program (BHAP) programs.
Design/methodology/approach
Historically, authorities having jurisdiction (AHJ)over fire service organizations have primarily offered behavioral health interventions through Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) or commercial insurance carriers. These programs are necessary but may prove insufficient to meet the scope and needs of trauma-exposed firefighters and the firefighters' families.
Findings
A BHAP is a comprehensive and operationalized plan which clearly specifies the mental health services fire department members and families need, where those services are available within their communities and levels and standards of care that are expected in the provision of these services.
Originality/value
The BHAP is becoming a world standard of behavioral health care for first responders. While some fire service agencies are beginning to create BHAP guides, developing and implementing a BHAP can be time consuming and overwhelming, particularly for departments with limited internal and external resources. While the results of this review focus on BHAP within the fire service, this framework is applicable across all first responder professions.
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David Dunning and Detlef Fetchenhauer
Trust involves making oneself vulnerable to another person with the prospect of receiving some benefit in return. Contemporary theoretical accounts of trust among strangers…
Abstract
Trust involves making oneself vulnerable to another person with the prospect of receiving some benefit in return. Contemporary theoretical accounts of trust among strangers emphasize its instrumental nature. People are assumed to trust to the extent that they can tolerate the risk and are sufficiently optimistic that their trust will be reciprocated. We describe evidence from laboratory economic games showing that this account empirically fails. Participants often trust even though their risk tolerance and social expectations suggest they should not. We propose, instead, that trust is largely an expressive act. People trust because of dynamics that surround the act itself rather than its potential outcomes. Evidence for the expressive nature of trust comes in two forms. First, studies of the emotions surrounding trust indicate that it is significantly predicted by how people feel about the act itself, not how they feel about its potential outcomes. Second, trust rates rise significantly if people are placed in a relationship with another person, no matter how anonymous, fleeting, or minimal that relationship is – presumably because being placed in a relationship evokes social norms that promote trust. We end our discussion by explaining a curious fact that participants grossly underestimate the trustworthiness of others. We also discuss possible motives for reciprocating trust and questions for future research.