Managing volunteers: FEMA's Urban Search and Rescue programme and interactions with unaffiliated responders in disaster response
説明
<jats:p>In the aftermath of disasters it is not uncommon for a large number of individuals, ranging from professional technical responders to untrained, albeit well meaning, volunteers, to converge on site of a disaster in order to offer to help victims or other responders. Because volunteers can be both a help and a hindrance in disaster response, they pose a paradox to professional responders at the scene. Through focus group interviews and in‐depth structured interviews, this paper presents an extended example of how Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) task forces, a type of professional technical‐responder organisation, interact with and utilise volunteers. Findings show that US&R task forces evaluate the volunteers in terms of their presumed legitimacy, utility, and potential liability or danger posed during the disaster response. Other responses to volunteers such as a feeling of powerlessness or the use of volunteers in non‐technical ways are also explored. This paper demonstrates some key aspects of the relationship between volunteers and formal response organisations in disasters.</jats:p>
収録刊行物
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- Disasters
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Disasters 31 (4), 495-507, 2007-10-10
Wiley
