Title: Identifying pivotal factors that influence the ability of main employers in rural Sweden to have employees who are part-time firefighters: a modified Delphi study

Authors: Emelie Lantz; Bengt Nilsson; Carina Elmqvist; Bengt Fridlund; Anders Svensson

Addresses: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Centre of Interprofessional Collaboration within Emergency care (CICE), Linnaeus University, Växjö, 352 52, Sweden ' Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Centre of Interprofessional Collaboration within Emergency care (CICE), Linnaeus University, Växjö, 352 52, Sweden ' Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Centre of Interprofessional Collaboration within Emergency care (CICE), Linnaeus University, Växjö, 352 52, Sweden ' Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Centre of Interprofessional Collaboration within Emergency care (CICE), Linnaeus University, Växjö, 352 52, Sweden ' Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Centre of Interprofessional Collaboration within Emergency care (CICE), Linnaeus University, Växjö, 352 52, Sweden

Abstract: The main employers of part-time firefighters are important partners for the fire and rescue services (FRSs) in rural areas of Sweden. The purpose of this study was to identify the pivotal factors that influence the ability of main employers in rural Sweden to have employees who are part-time firefighters. A modified version of the Delphi technique was used, where opinions from a group of main employers were collected to find consensus. The Delphi technique is characterised by a number of rounds in which questionnaires are used until consensus is reached. This study identified 20 pivotal factors among the main employers. On one hand, employing part-time firefighters brought a sense of safety at the workplace but, on the other hand, there was a lack of appreciation and dialogue from the FRSss.

Keywords: part-time firefighters; emergency management; retention; FRS; fire and rescue service; rural areas; Delphi technique; main employers; pivotal factors; consensus; collaboration.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEM.2023.141422

International Journal of Emergency Management, 2023 Vol.18 No.4, pp.365 - 379

Received: 06 Mar 2023
Accepted: 23 Apr 2024
Published online: 12 Sep 2024 *

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