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The Space‐Control Theory of Paramedic Scene‐Management
Author(s) -
Campeau Anthony G.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
symbolic interaction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.874
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1533-8665
pISSN - 0195-6086
DOI - 10.1525/si.2008.31.3.285
Subject(s) - symbolic interactionism , context (archaeology) , grounded theory , interview , control (management) , space (punctuation) , service (business) , emergency management , knowledge management , sociology , computer science , psychology , qualitative research , business , social psychology , artificial intelligence , social science , paleontology , marketing , anthropology , political science , law , biology , operating system
Paramedics provide emergency service in physically hazardous and socially complex situations. These work settings present unique challenges in terms of managing resources and relationships in a multicrisis context, in order to enable the delivery of emergency patient care. Using data obtained from interviewing paramedics, this study demonstrates the usefulness of symbolic interaction theory for context analysis, by analyzing an important aspect of paramedic practice: scene management. Through grounded theory methodology, this study also presents the first interactionism‐based theory of how paramedics manage emergency scenes. This theory emphasizes the critical role of social processes in establishing social control in work spaces.