Rescue Missions and Risk Management: Highly Reliable or Over Committed?

Abstract

Management in rescue organizations are often faced by conflicts between a spectrum of emergency types, and legal duties to ensure rescuer safety on the incident ground. Drawing on two case studies we consider how rescuers react to cues in order to make sense of unsafe work environments and so make decisions in emergency situations. We explore problems of over‐commitment by rescue workers, together with the nature of its manifestation, and management options for engendering high reliability. We find that the identity and social aspects of ensuring the ‘sensemaking’ are particularly relevant in rescue workers that it is morally and professionally acceptable to decline an overly hazardous rescue. Cue‐based training as well as equipment provision is also vital in assessing risk.