Research

Fundamental and Applied Science

Examination of Resilience and Role Conflict among Police, Fire, and Emergency Medical Service Personnel in the Midst of Disaster

Principal Investigator: Terri Adams-Fuller, PhD

Research Question:

In the event of a manmade or natural disaster, police, fire, and emergency medical service (EMS) personnel are essential front-line first responders. The ability of police, fire, and EMS agencies to provide adequate services is contingent upon critical response personnel working and functioning in an efficient manner. This project will provide information on “what can be expected” from those whom society relies upon in the midst of a disaster -- police, fire and emergency medical service (EMS) personnel-- when they are personally impacted by the catastrophe to which they are responding. Specifically, this project seeks to address the following research questions:

  • How were first responders impacted by role conflict during their previous disaster experience?
  • What issues and concerns impede professional responses?
  • What coping strategies are useful in fostering resilience among first responders at the height of a disaster?
  • What motivated adaptive responses despite the dilemmas and hardships faced at the height of the disaster?
  • What issues may impede police, fire, and EMS personnel from responding to a future disaster?

Analytic Approach:

The project aims to examine resilience and role conflict among police, fire, and EMS personnel who served as first responders during the Hurricane Katrina crisis in New Orleans, Louisiana and Gulfport, Mississippi (2005), as well as the recent earthquake in Santiago, Chile (2010). If the second study site cannot be secured, the project will examine an alternate incident, such as: the SARS epidemic in Toronto, Canada (2003), or the Midwest floods in Cedar Rapids and Dubuque, Iowa (2008).

To address the research questions the study will employ a mixed method utilizing quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. The project will be carried out in three phases for each of the study sites, these phases include: (1) collection of background information; (2) collection of survey data; and (3) collection of face-to-face interview data. Both phase two and three will include a retrospective analysis (review of what has happened in the past), and a prospective analysis (anticipation of what can happen in the future) of the issues facing police, fire, and EMS personnel in the event of a disaster.