Research assignment
Abstract
The ambulance service needs recommendations on the characteristics and traits of potential volunteers. Previous research indicates that volunteers need to be risk-takers, emotionally stable and have the ability to get along with others. Recommendations were made to find suitable candidates with these traits through a group assessment to test group and individual risk, decision making, emotional intelligence through a psychological check and by finding a volunteer who fits the job search.
Introduction
Background information & outline of the problem:
The ambulance service is a valuable service that helps the community access treatment when sick, involved in an accident or when they suffer from significant injuries. They utilise the services of a consultant to help them solve their problems as they seek to add volunteers to help the staff as staff are usually busy as they help organise the community.
The aim of this report
This report attempts to find out which qualities and characteristics that all new potential ambulance volunteers should possess as ambulance volunteers require highly significant features which other work environs might not require. This report aims to provide recommendations about the necessary qualities and characteristics and how to acquire individuals with such skills.
Findings
Risk taking and decision-making
The ambulance service is a limited service and needs all the available support for the efficient completion of its mandates and tasks. As seen in the graph below, there is a slower rate of handover by ambulances in Victorian hospitals, this means that ambulances spend more time transferring their patients to hospitals and less time on the road with critical patients. The use of volunteers that assist ambulance services may aid in the treatment of more patients through such services.
Figure 1 - Ambulance handover times in Victoria, Australia (Medew, 2015)
There are certain qualities that ambulance volunteers need to have so that they can be effective in their job. Charman (2015) believes that all ambulance volunteers should be willing to take risks and be prepared to face uncertainties as they may be asked to treat people who have been injured, such as in car accidents, and this may involve close contact. They should also be prepared to manifest individual characteristics when needed in an environment where teamwork is of paramount importance. The ability to make good decisions as an individual or in groups will help them to react quickly when someone is close to dying and a decision for their care needs to be made on the spot.
Keeping emotions away.
Another important characteristic that these volunteers should have is for them to try to keep their emotions in check since they deal with life and death situations whenever they are at work. The ambulance service frequently gets called to situations where people have had heart attacks, loss of a lot of blood or in cases where people are very sick from illnesses. This also involves confronting situations such as when women may be in the process of conceiving or where people are close to death. Guy, Newman & Ganapati (2013) suggest that ambulance workers will need to show a strong ability to be stable in their emotions at all times, especially when they are faced with hard choices and scenarios. Being able not to show emotion and to get on with the job is a skill that will be necessary for emergency situations.
Ability to get along with others
Another trait required from volunteers is to have a good sense of humour and an ability to get along with others, is a desirable character trait for ambulance volunteers. All volunteers will need to deal frequently with members of the public that they have little knowledge of and their family that may be sad or very frantic about the health conditions of their loved ones. Therefore, it is essential that the volunteer maintains a positive mood while on the job to reflect the same on the people they work with to remain as confident and happy as they can be, despite the situation that they might find themselves in. Charman (2013) believes that this will help the staff to create a healthy environment for a job in which one can be exposed to adverse situations on a daily basis.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is clear that volunteer ambulance staff should have particular characteristics like risk taking and strong decisions making skills, both as an individual and as a team member. They need to have the ability to keep their emotions stable so that they can effectively deal with the things that see and the situations that they have to work in, which can be very gruesome. Also, it was found that these volunteers should have a sense of humour and an ability to get along with others so that a positive rapport can be maintained between patients, ambulance caregivers and relatives.
Recommendations – (who, what, when, why)
New volunteers can be recruited with these characteristics in the following ways:
They should undertake team and individual decision-making tasks in a group job interview and be later tested for how they can perform individually yet still work as a team. This should be the first step in the recruitment process which will take place in a quiet conference room and will have various ambulance managers to select those that show the right type of characteristics.
New potential volunteers need to have emotional testing done by professionals so that they can find the best candidates for the job. A psychologist will carry out the assessment of the volunteers and subject working pressure on the volunteers to indicate what behaviours they show under distress situations. This should be done in a proper medical facility, such as a hospital so that the potential volunteer can have an appropriate assessment of their emotional stability. If they are not tested in such a manner, they may commence work as volunteers only to be overwhelmed while working because they can’t cope with the pressure of work.
Testing for a sense of humour may be complicated; this can be done by assessing the cultural fit of the person in the work environment. This will involve getting the potential volunteer to work with current volunteers in a trial shift and to have the ambulance officers assess the volunteers to establish if they have the right skills, characteristics and behaviours to fit in an ambulance service environment that are hectic and dynamic.
Resources
Charman, S., 2013, “Sharing a laugh: The role of humour in relationships between police officers and ambulance staff”, International Journal of sociology and social policy, Vol. 33, Issue 3/4, pp.152-166.
Charman, S., 2015, “Crossing cultural boundaries: Reconsidering the cultural characteristics of police officers and ambulance staff”, International Journal of Emergency Services, Vol. 4, Issue 2, pp.158-176.
Guy, M.E., Newman, M.A. and Emel Ganapati, N., 2013, “Managing emotions while managing crises”, International Journal of Emergency Services, Vol. 2, Issue 1, pp.6-20.
Medew, 2015, Ambulance queues getting worse at Victorian hospitals, The Age, July 9th 2015.
Pek, E., Banfai, B., Deutsch, K., Radnai, B. and Betlehem, J., 2015, “How Healthy are Hungary’s Ambbulance Personnel? A Representitiev Study, Critical Care Medicine Journal, Vol. 43, Issue 12, pp.86-95.
