소방대원의 안전 위협 경험

Abstract

This study was a qualitative study to explore the safety threat experiences of firefighters using focus group interviews. The purpose of the study was to deeply understand the properties and essentials of safety threats experienced by firefighters during firefighting activities in order to empathy for the meaning of safety threats and provide basic necessary data to resolve their safety threats. Ultimately, it is intended to help firefighters to work in a safer environment emotionally and physically. The data collection for this study was conducted from February 8, 2021 to March 25, 2021, and the participants in the study were firefighters currently working in the field who had experienced safety threats of 5 years or more and less than 15 years of experience, including 7 fire suppression workers, 5 rescue workers, and 6 paramedics. In order for participants to create suitable discussion conditions with intensive interactions, firefighters whose main tasks are fire extinguishing, rescue workers whose main tasks are rescue activities, and paramedics whose main tasks are emergency activities were interviewed three times separately. Data were analyzed by qualitative content analysis method. As a result of the analysis, 26 sub-categories and 10 categories were derived, which could be divided into two dimensions. The two dimensions are 'meaning of safety threat experiences' and ' coping strategies to safety threats'. There were seven categories of meaning of safety threat experiences: ‘dangerous accident scene in uncertain situations’, ‘suppressing the overwhelming fear and entering alone into the boundaries of life and death’, ‘thrown unprotected in unexpected dizzing moments’, ‘enduring the situation with self-hypnosis in unavoidable situations’, ‘destiny embodied in the image of a hero’, ‘a dangerous accident experience that remains an intense afterimage’, ‘a dizzying accident experience in which life and death are unclear is projected into everyday life', In terms of coping strategies to safety threats, three categories were included: 'dealing from the personal side', 'dealing through relationships with colleagues', and 'dealing required at the organizational level'. This study was meaningful in that it revealed the properties and essentials of safety threats experienced by firefighters during firefighting activities and suggested countermeasures against safety threats. Participants have showed negative emotions and behavioral responses while exposed to various safety threatening experiences during firefighting activities, nevertheless they have developed safety capabilities through personal efforts, cooperation, and exchanges with colleagues based on trust, and suggested various alternatives at the organizational level.