Portuguese Volunteer Firefighters in the Context of the Challenges Posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760)

Volunteer Firefighters in the Context of the Challenges posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic

 

The undertaken topic is extremely important from the cognitive and practical point of view. The analysis of the activities of Volunteer Fire Brigades perfectly fits into the H2H model. The fact is that this model appeared and is used primarily for analysis in the economic sphere (in particular marketing), so we should appreciate the efforts of the authors who through their research creatively develop it, indicating the possibility of its application beyond profit-oriented activities (in the field of internal security, for non-profit organizations).

The structure of the article is correct. The authors have reviewed the literature on the subject, then indicated the research methods used (a hybrid method consisting of the ethnography and action research). Moreover, the field research method was also used (in order to obtain empirical data the interview and field observation techniques were applied). The choice of research methods is correct enabling the achievement of research aims. The use of triangulation should be assessed positively.

The next part of the article presents the results of the research. The initiatives launched by volunteer firefighters in Portugal were grouped into several areas of intervention and framed under one of four dimensions: (1) DIM1 - relationship, social proximity and fighting isolation; (2) DIM2 - social and or intersectoral protection and medication assistance; (3) DIM3 – media exposure and tribute to public-private entities involved in fighting COVID-19; and (4) DIM4 – sensibilization and implementation of actions within the scope of COVID-19 containment. The identification of four areas of activity of Volunteer Fire Brigades during the COVID-19 pandemic should be considered valid. 

The article ends with a discussion of the research results and  conclusions. Future research directions have also been indicated. In the reviewer's opinion, a significant achievement of the Authors is to show the ability of voluntary firefighters, whose most important task in Portugal is after all fighting with fires and other local threats, to adapt to new challenges (extension of the catalogue of tasks of Portuguese Volunteer Firefighters in the field of emergency response to, among others, health care, supply of food, medicines, personal hygiene and cleaning products, containing the spread of COVID-19, or promoting public-private partnerships).

Only minor corrections are recommended before publication. The title of the article needs modification - it should include the limitation of the research area to the territory of Portugalia. The error of exaggerated generalization (for example: “The Portuguese are supportive and resilient people who have been affected by successive economic crises, and who are also known for their ability to overcome obstacles in times of crisis”) should be corrected before printing. The methodological part should be enriched by indicating the research hypothesis. 

Author Response

We appreciate the review suggestions and comments received by this reviewer. These elements are key to improving the final quality of the manuscript. We have responded to each issue and highlighted the changes in the manuscript using the green color.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Thank you very much for presenting this interesting article. However, there are some aspects that I think should be reviewed:

- In point 2.1, it focuses a lot on the humanization of care in the context of health (health/hospital), moving away from the main object of the study: firefighters.

- The bibliography on this point should be more up-to-date, and it should also be noted the role played not only by health workers but also by others, in addition to firefighters, such as security forces and bodies or social workers (Ejm: DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18105416; DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17238790)

- In the methodology we talk about limitations and this should be in conclusions. However, the methodology used in this study is not well defined or explained. Neither the number of associations contacted nor the number of people interviewed is specified. How many men and women were interviewed?

- It would have been interesting to know the objectives set in order to better understand and interpret the results.

- In the Discussion section, comparison with more studies in the same context of Covid-19 and firefighters is required.

- The conclusions seem more like a summary of the introduction and the review of the literature, it provides little relevant information that comes from the results, I think it should be reviewed.

Once these points are resolved, the study will be very interesting.

Author Response

We appreciate the review suggestions and comments received by this reviewer. These elements are key to improving the final quality of the manuscript. We have responded to each issue and highlighted the changes in the manuscript using the green color.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf