Do Paramedics Have a Professional Obligation to Work During a Pandemic? A Qualitative Exploration of Community Member Expectations

ABSTRACTObjectives:Previous research has identified a lack of clarification regarding paramedic professional obligation to work. Understanding community expectations of paramedics will provide some clarity around this issue. The objective of this research was to explore the expectations of a sample of Australian community members regarding the professional obligation of paramedics to respond during pandemics.Methods:The authors used qualitative methods to gather Australian community member perspectives immediately before the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Focus groups were used for data collection, and a thematic analysis was conducted.Results:The findings revealed 9 key themes: context of obligation (normal operations versus crisis situation), hierarchy of obligation (individual versus organizational obligation), risk acceptability, acceptable occupational risk (it’s part of the job), access to personal protective equipment, legal and ethical guidelines, education and training, safety, and acceptable limitations to obligation. The factors identified as being acceptable limitations to professional obligation are presented as further sub-themes: physical health, mental health, and competing personal obligations.Conclusions:The issue of professional obligation must be addressed by ambulance services as a matter of urgency, especially in light of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Further research is recommended to understand how community member expectations evolve during and after the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Willingness of emergency and medicine department doctors to work during surge of COVID-19 patients, Patan Hospital, Nepal

Introduction: With the current COVID-19 pandemic, Patan Hospital, Patan Academy of Health Sciences (PAHS), is responding with its incident action plan which also has provision of the response in case of surge. This study aim to find out the willingness of doctors to work during the surge of COVID-19 and may help in further planning. Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at Patan Hospital, PAHS, Nepal in April 2020. Questionnaires were circulated to the doctors via Google form to the doctors working in the emergency and medicine department. Ethical approval was obtained. Data were analyzed descriptively. Result: Out of total 73 participants, 59 (80.8%) knew about the surge plan of COVID-19 and 54 (73.9%) were willing to work during the surge. Their major motivation was the professional obligation 56 (76.7%), whereas 61(83.6%) fear about their family getting infected. More than 50% of the participants were ready to stay in-house and work in a sub-optimal environment with a feeling of making a significant contribution to the community. Conclusion: When the number of cases of COVID-19 peaks and the surge plan gets activated, the majority of doctors surveyed were found willing to work even in sub optimal environments.

“Alguma forma de empatia": Introdução O que faz da história algo pessoal?

This theme section tackles the question “What makes history personal?” The four articles included in the issue present some possible strategies to begin to answer the question, often by reminding us of the need to overcome key dichotomies, such as the separation between mind and body, between scientific knowledge and emotions, between language and experience, between the work and the reader, between concepts and literary form, and between professional obligation and engagement with current political circumstances. The attitudes and formulations proposed in the four articles are intimately linked to these dichotomies, arising from thoughtful rereading and rethinking of the core challenges. Phenomenology and the concept of empathy especially stand out in these investigations, although both are approached from different perspectives and empirical bases.

To Everything There Is a Season

Three ideas, not always juxtaposed to one another in the literature, have had a profound impact on what archivists preserve. The ideas that archivists should create a universal record of human activity, that social justice should inform archival selection decisions, and that archivists hold a unique form of power that can be exercised through appraisal have led some to posit a professional obligation not only to work toward a more equitable future but also toward a moral one. This article argues that these ideas are generally not helpful to archivists. Local autonomy and unique archival missions better define how archivists can best perform their core functions, rather than ideas based on assumptions of universal documentation or social justice, each rooted in a notion of archival power.