Communication processes in the Hellenic fire corps: a comparative perspective

Chlimintza, Elpida-Melpomeni (2010) Communication processes in the Hellenic fire corps: a comparative perspective. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

My research explores critical issues involved in emergency management in a front-line,
emergency service – the fire brigade – in Greece, Germany and Britain. It is designed to
identify the problems in the communication conduct among fire-fighters during emergency
responses, to examine the causes of these problems and to suggest ways to overcome them
that should allow European countries to adopt more effective policies. It aims to make a
contribution to the academic study of crisis management in organizations through an
analysis of actual, real-time, responses to emergencies such as industrial fires, plane
crashes, road traffic accidents and train collisions. Organizations such as fire services are
seen as communication events and a platform where shared cognitive meanings and shared
value commitments shape the actions of the interactive agents. In this vein, emergencies
are the outworking of communicative disruption in organizations, in which fire services
face a triple jeopardy: they have to manage other organizations’ crises (such crises include
those arising in large chemical and oil factories), their own crises (for example, failing to
communicate because of inadequate radio spectrum) and natural disasters (such as
earthquakes and forest fires).

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Keywords: Fire service, emergency management, communication, organizations, cross-cultural research
• Subjects: H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications; H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Sociology Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences
• Supervisor's Name: Eldridge, Dr. John
• Date of Award: 2010
• Depositing User: MS ELPIDA MELPOMENI CHLIMINTZA
• Unique ID: glathesis:2010-1754
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 28 Jun 2010
• Last Modified: 10 Dec 2012 13:46
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/1754