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professional
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Applying organisational behaviour theory to aid emergency staff retention

02 November 2021
Features
02 November 2021
Volume 13 · Issue 11

Abstract

The purpose of this theoretical concept article is to spark a dialogue on the use of organisational behaviour theory to address emergency responder retention. In the United States, emergency medical services (EMS) appear to be burdened with continuing problems of retaining staff. Poor responder retention affects the ability of EMS to deliver high-quality services; without trained, educated and experienced first responders, the EMS system struggles, and what suffers is the ability to provide medical care. The authors set out to construct a pathway for addressing the underlying issues leading to the exodus of professionals using organisational behaviour theory. To develop the idea, an inductive logic approach was used to address underlying negative factors influencing poor retention and discuss the promise of organisational behaviour theory in improving the retention of responders.

Prehospital emergency medical care is a crucial element in the management of ill and injured patients in the United States. The volume of calls to emergency medical services (EMS) has increased dramatically in recent years in the US (Carr et al, 2019). In the period between 2010 to 2017, 911 emergency systems in the US experienced a 33% rise in emergency call volume (Carr et al, 2020). However, the capacity to match EMS resources to this increased demand seems to be problematic for the profession, in part because of continued problems in retaining experienced emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics (Rivard et al, 2020).

The purpose of the paper is to examine issues relating to the retention of EMS personnel in the United States and highlight the use of organisational behaviour theory, a sociological theory, as a pathway for addressing such issues in future research.

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Emergency medical services
Retention
Organisational behaviour theory