IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v11y2022i7p285-d852043.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Portuguese Volunteer Firefighters in the Context of the Challenges Posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Fernando Almeida

    (Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto and INESC TEC, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal)

  • José Morais

    (Polytechnic Higher Institute of Gaya (ISPGAYA), 4400-103 Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal)

  • Ana Pereira

    (Polytechnic Higher Institute of Gaya (ISPGAYA), 4400-103 Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is producing not only epidemiological consequences on a global scale, but also political, economic, and social repercussions. The health care professionals that have been on the front lines fighting the pandemic need the support and assistance of other organizations to meet the many daily challenges. Volunteer firefighters stand out for their outreach approach and implementation of the Human2Human paradigm that has enabled them to meet the needs of the most vulnerable population that have been hit the hardest by the pandemic. This study adopts an ethnographic-action method considering Portuguese volunteer firefighters to explore the characteristics and relevance of these initiatives in areas such as combating isolation, medical assistance, containing the spread of COVID-19, and promoting public–private partnerships. The findings reveal that factors associated with altruism are central elements in the emergence of these initiatives, although some locally or nationally coordinated initiatives have been replicated in other contexts. It is also noteworthy that volunteer firefighters also present initiatives that can be fit into more than one category.

Suggested Citation

  • Fernando Almeida & José Morais & Ana Pereira, 2022. "Portuguese Volunteer Firefighters in the Context of the Challenges Posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-17, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:11:y:2022:i:7:p:285-:d:852043
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/7/285/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/7/285/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ruta Clair & Maya Gordon & Matthew Kroon & Carolyn Reilly, 2021. "The effects of social isolation on well-being and life satisfaction during pandemic," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-6, December.
    2. Flanagan Barry E. & Gregory Edward W. & Hallisey Elaine J & Heitgerd Janet L. & Lewis Brian, 2011. "A Social Vulnerability Index for Disaster Management," Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 1-24, January.
    3. Cutter Susan L. & Burton Christopher G. & Emrich Christopher T., 2010. "Disaster Resilience Indicators for Benchmarking Baseline Conditions," Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, De Gruyter, vol. 7(1), pages 1-24, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yong-Ling Zhang & Wen-Jiao You, 2014. "Social vulnerability to floods: a case study of Huaihe River Basin," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 71(3), pages 2113-2125, April.
    2. Claire I. Tsai & Min Zhao & Dilip Soman, 2022. "Salient knowledge that others are also evaluating reduces judgment extremity," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 366-387, March.
    3. Elena G. Popkova & Aleksei V. Bogoviz & Svetlana V. Lobova & Abdula M. Chililov & Anastasia A. Sozinova & Bruno S. Sergi, 2022. "Changing entrepreneurial attitudes for mitigating the global pandemic’s social drama," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Kim, Jihyun & Merrill Jr., Kelly & Collins, Chad & Yang, Hocheol, 2021. "Social TV viewing during the COVID-19 lockdown: The mediating role of social presence," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    5. Ileana CIOBANU & Mihaela ZAMFIR & Andreea Georgiana MARIN & Mihai Viorel ZAMFIR & Rozeta DRAGHICI & Alina ILIESCU & Laszlo IRSAY & Mihai BERTEANU, 2021. "Ageing in COVID era Social isolation risk factors, outcomes and smart solutions," Smart Cities International Conference (SCIC) Proceedings, Smart-EDU Hub, Faculty of Public Administration, National University of Political Studies & Public Administration, vol. 9, pages 409-424, November.
    6. Lila Singh-Peterson & Steven J. R. Underhill, 2017. "A multi-scalar, mixed methods framework for assessing rural communities’ capacity for resilience, adaptation, and transformation," Community Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(1), pages 124-140, January.
    7. Valeria Micheletto & Margherita Zito & Massimo Bustreo & Giorgio Gabrielli & Riccardo Circi & Vincenzo Russo, 2022. "The Impact of Optimism and Internal Locus of Control on Workers’ Well-Being, A Multi-Group Model Analysis before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-18, November.
    8. Jasper Dhoore & Bram Spruyt & Jessy Siongers, 2024. "Locked Down: The Gendered Impact of Social Support on Children’s Well-Being Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 17(1), pages 367-394, February.
    9. Jeworrek, Sabrina & Waibel, Joschka, 2021. "Alone at home: The impact of social distancing on norm-consistent behavior," IWH Discussion Papers 8/2021, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    10. Alam, Faizan & Tao, Meng & Rastogi, Rashmi & Mendiratta, Aparna & Attri, Rekha, 2024. "Do social media influencers influence the vaccination drive? An application of source credibility theory and uses and gratification theory," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    11. Merili Tamson & Rainer Reile & Diana Sokurova & Kaire Innos & Eha Nurk & Kaia Laidra & Sigrid Vorobjov, 2022. "Health-Related Quality of Life and Its Socio-Demographic and Behavioural Correlates during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Estonia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-12, July.
    12. Jia Xu & Makoto Takahashi, 2021. "Urban Marginalization and the Declining Capacity for Disaster Risks in Contemporary China," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-16, November.
    13. Maria Makabenta Ikeda & Arlene Garces-Ozanne, 2016. "Human Security, Social Competence and Natural Disasters in Japan and New Zealand: A Case study of Filipino migrants," Japan Social Innovation Journal, University of Hyogo Institute for Policy Analysis and Social Innovation, vol. 6(1), pages 1-42, March.
    14. Annette S. Crisanti & Shelley Alonso-Marsden & Leah Puglisi & Richard Neil Greene & Tyler Kincaid & Jenna L. Dole & Neal Bowen, 2021. "Association between Psychological Integration and Permanent Supportive Housing: An Exploratory Study with a Focus on Ethnicity," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-16, December.
    15. Michael H. J. Rhodin & Archie C. Reyes & Anand Balakrishnan & Nalini Bisht & Nicole M. Kelly & Joyce Sweeney Gibbons & Jonathan Lloyd & Michael Vaine & Tessa Cressey & Miranda Crepeau & Ruichao Shen &, 2024. "The small molecule inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro EDP-235 prevents viral replication and transmission in vivo," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    16. M. Siyabend Kaya & Ciara McCabe, 2022. "Effects of COVID-19 on Adolescent Mental Health and Internet Use by Ethnicity and Gender: A Mixed-Method Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-20, July.
    17. Anagha Kumar & Joel Salinas, 2021. "The Long-Term Public Health Impact of Social Distancing on Brain Health: Topical Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-13, July.
    18. Hyejin Park, 2021. "The Role of Technology in Anxiety and Depression during the COVID Pandemic," Eximia Journal, Plus Communication Consulting SRL, vol. 2(1), pages 27-35, July.
    19. Jianjun Qin & Michael Havbro Faber, 2019. "Resilience Informed Integrity Management of Wind Turbine Parks," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-19, July.
    20. Guillermo Bermúdez-González & Ana M. Lucia-Casademunt & Laura Padilla-Angulo, 2024. "What can talent management do about involuntary remote working in the post-COVID-19 era? Spanish IT employees’ organizational commitment," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:11:y:2022:i:7:p:285-:d:852043. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.