Lived Experiences of Regular Volunteer Emergency First Responders: A Phenomenological Research


Authors : Francis Jeremy E. Castillo; Dorothea C. dela Cruz

Volume/Issue : Volume 7 - 2022, Issue 7 - July

Google Scholar : https://bit.ly/3IIfn9N

Scribd : https://bit.ly/3w6n1XZ

DOI : https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6996358

Emergency medical services are the first link in the delivery of healthcare services before patients are eventually turned over to medical health professionals -- medical doctors, nurses. While the latter have been the subject of voluminous studies regarding their experiences, challenges, physical and mental health, emergency volunteers seem to be relegated to the background that little or no studies have been conducted on them, especially in the local setting. This research dealt with the lived experiences of regular volunteer emergency first responders. They were composed of volunteer emergency medical technicians (EMT), first aid providers, search and rescue volunteers, and firefighters among others. They did round-the-clock lifesaving emergency care for individuals involved in different emergencies. This qualitative research study explored the lived experiences of nine volunteers who shared their involvement in being volunteers. A phenomenological inquiry was chosen as the method to explore the experiences of the participants with the use of semi-structured interviews. They were asked several open-ended questions supporting the primary question to go deeper into their lived experiences. Recorded interviews revealed four essential themes across volunteer-respondents regarding their continuous service as volunteer emergency first responders: (a) desire to help transcends volunteers’ age, civil status, years of service, and educational attainment; (b) helping others is a rewarding experience; (c) constant retraining and camaraderie among peers can easily surmount financial difficulties and lack of equipment; and, (d) willingness on the part of volunteer-responders to face injury or death in the process of helping others. This is the first account of lived experiences of volunteer emergency first responders, and it hopes to provide a better understanding of the people who put their lives on the line so that others may live.

Keywords : Lived experiences, First Responders, Emergency Medical Technicians.

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