![]() ![]() They shared their frustrations about people in the community who were against wearing masks and increasing risk to others. Personal Challenges: Perceived “Stumbling Blocks” of the COVID-19 Pandemicįinally, volunteer firefighters commented they were frustrated by people not taking COVID-19 seriously. And that was being impeded for many months”. But it’s all that soft stuff that happens in addition to what you have to do, where you really start to get connection and a feeling of tightness with your department. ![]() That is really when, you know, a lot of the camaraderie and the trust building, and the connection happens. Similarly, another firefighter explained “Well, I think we’ve lost a lot of connection to one another. As one firefighter reflecting on the changes during the pandemic shared, “We used to look forward to seeing each other, hanging out after calls, talking, catching up with everybody and now it’s like, go do the call, and let’s get everybody out of here. They commented on how the changes during the pandemic resulted in less camaraderie among the firefighters. Volunteer firefighters’ responses also suggested that connecting and building trust with coworkers was much more difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings provide insight into the multifaceted and complex impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volunteer firefighters. Further, some volunteers noted personal benefits such as developing stronger connections with others, having a new outlook on life, and observing goodwill. They also identified unexpected work-related benefits including a deepened commitment to serve and improvements to training and safety. Interviewees described pandemic-related challenges including the fear of COVID exposure and frustrations with work and personal relationships. Thirty-three firefighters were interviewed who had an average of 22 years of service and a mean age of 52 years. Interviews were analyzed using deductive dominant thematic analysis. ![]() Interviews were conducted with volunteer firefighters between September and November 2021. We sought to understand the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of volunteer firefighters in the United States, an understudied group of these first responders. Across these nations, first responders are essential in their roles addressing emergencies, despite their risk of exposure to COVID-19 in the course of their work. I currently use R for cleaning and analyzing data, for documenting research procedures, and producing reports.The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected the lives of almost every individual in every nation, with numbers of infections continuing to grow. While I use and have expertise in a variety of software programs for data analysis (including SPSS, SAS, MPlus, AMOS, ArcView GIS, and AtlasTI), I have focused my recent training on becoming fluent in R. Within each of these analytic techniques, I am experienced with both general and generalized approaches, including those for count and binary data. Over the past decade, in particular, I have refined my expertise in statistical analysis techniques, including factor analysis, cluster analysis, classification procedures, structural equation modeling (including path analysis, multiple groups analysis, and full structural models), and multilevel and longitudinal data analysis (including discontinuous growth models). Over the course of my education and career, I have developed expertise in all phases of research design and analysis, but my primary focus is in the management, cleaning, and analysis of complicated data (including experience with databases of several million cases). Over the last 20 years, I have gained a strong background in academic and applied research settings, including research in medicine and epidemiology, substance abuse prevention, homelessness, and criminal justice. I also currently teach two PhD-level statistics courses in the College of Social Work. Since receiving my PhD, I have worked as a statistical analyst, social, and medical researcher, participating in the design, analysis and reporting for numerous research projects in these fields. I am now a Research Assistant Professor at the Utah Criminal Justice Center in the College of Social Work at the University of Utah. I received my PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Utah in 2004 and have worked in the fields of marketing, social, and medical research since 1997, beginning as a research assistant at the Ohio State University.
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