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The purpose of this study was to describe experiences of working as a paid part-time firefighter (PTF) in Swedish rural areas.

An inductive explorative design was used, based on interviews with 18 paid PTFs in Sweden. Data were analyzed using qualitative latent content analysis.

Three themes emerged from the interviews and describe paid PTFs’ experiences. The findings provide insights into how firefighters share a strong commitment, how support plays a crucial role, and how training and call-outs contribute to their experiences. Paid PTFs’ experiences are nuanced, ranging from personal limitations and challenges to satisfaction and the contrast with ordinary life.

The implications for fire and rescue service organizations are that they can encourage firefighters’ commitment and pride, as well as the commitment and support of their families and main employers. Further, highlighting the importance of support and facilitating flexibility when on call is crucial. Finally, acknowledging and promoting personal development and facilitating an inclusive culture are important factors for both motivation and satisfaction.

Paid PTFs are under-represented in the literature, despite the reliance on them in Sweden, and this study begins to address the knowledge gap. To improve retention, it is vital to understand paid PTFs work situation: what motivates them, what barriers they face, and how those challenges influence their experiences.

In order to shorten the response time, two part-time fire departments (FDs) in Sweden initialize a first incident person (FIP) assignment. This is done by alarming the crew manager as an FIP, responding in a separate emergency vehicle, and by arriving at the scene before rest of the crew. The purpose of this paper is to explore and describe experiences of the FIP assignment within an FD.

A multimethod design was used, influenced by Creswell and Plano Clark’s (2011) explanatory sequential mixed method design including emergency reports, a questionnaire and interviews.

The results show that the FIP assignment was a function that secured an early presence at the scene of an accident or emergency situations, which is beneficial for society in the form of a safety factor, for the firefighters in the form of early prior information on what to expect at the scene and for the patient in the form of early existential support and increased chances of survival.

In order to prevent full scenarios to happen and get the chance to save lives, an early response must be ensured. Hence, studies must be made in different settings, based on its unique conditions. This study indicates that by implementing FIP in FDs placed in a rural area, the FIP can break the chain of events and becoming a new link in the chain of survival.

The purpose of this paper is to understand how organisational culture influences the intentions of primary care staff members (PCSM) to engage in research and development (R&D).

The participants (n=30) were PCSM employed in a care centre in south-western Sweden. The study had an observational design with an ethnographic approach. The data were collected by means of observations, interviews and analysis of documents.

The results revealed the perceptions of PCSM in two domains, research and clinical practice, both of which existed at three different cultural levels: visible (structures and policy), semi-visible (norms and values) and invisible (taken-for-granted attitudes).

It is difficult to conduct a purely objective ethnographic study because the investigation is controlled by its context. However, it is necessary to highlight and discuss the invisible level to improve understanding of negative attitudes and preconceptions related to the implementation of R&D in the clinical setting.

By highlighting the invisible level of culture, the management of an organisation has the opportunity to initiate discussion of issues related to concealed norms and values as well as attitudes towards new thinking and change in the primary health context.

This paper is one of the very few studies to investigate the influence of organisational culture on the intentions of PCSM to engage in R&D.

The media is an important part of disaster management, yet little is understood about their interplay with the disaster survivors. The purpose of this paper is to examine disaster survivors’ long-term retrospective views of their experiences with journalists and the media coverage.

In total, 22 Swedish adult survivors (of 49 eligible) from a ferry disaster in the Baltic Sea, in which only 137 of the 989 people onboard survived, were interviewed after 15 years about their experiences of meeting journalists in the immediate aftermath and the media coverage in a long-term perspective. The transcribed interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

Survivors from the Estonia ferry disaster described a wide array of experiences from their contacts with the disaster journalists and being exposed in the media. From their experiences, four categories were extracted. The categories were common for both their media contacts and their media exposure: strain, support, rationality and evasion. The survivors’ experiences were both negative and positive.

These accounts of disaster survivors’ experiences from an event 15 years ago provide an interesting comparison for future studies of contemporary disasters.

This study provides important perspectives on the role of disaster coverage in the media and documents how disaster survivors retrospect on the media as both a burden and a resource.