A Community Assessment of Erie County Volunteer Firefighters and Blood Donation
Department of Nursing
Table of Contents
I. Background Information on Affiliating Agency……………….
II. Definition of Community ………………………………………………..
III. Approaches Used to Assess Community ………………………………..
IV. Description of Survey ………………………………..
V. Assessment of Community …………………………………………….
A. People …………………………………………………………………
1. Age and Gender Distribution ………………………………………
2. Ethnicity …………………………………………………………
3. Educational Levels …………………………………………………
4. Language …………………………………………………………
5. Religion …………………………………………………………….
6. Income ……………………………………………………………
7. Occupations ……………………………………………………..
8. Housing ……………………………………………………………
B. Community Structures
1. Government or Management ……………………………………..
2. Educational Agencies …………………………………………....
3. Agents of Social Control ………………………………………..
4. Informal Power Structures ………………………………………..
5. Production, Consumption & Distribution
of Goods and Services …………………………………….
6. Family Structures ………………………………………………
C. Other Aspects ………………………………………………………
1. Geography ………………………………………………………
2. Transportation …………………………………………………...
3. Recreation ………………………………………………………
4. Communication ………………………………………………..
D. Health Risk Factors ………………………………………………..
E. Resources for Dealing with Risk Factors …………………………
1. Social Changes Needed to Combat Risk Factors………….
F. Stressors …………………………………………………………
G. Analysis of Data …………………………………………………..
VI. Summary …………………………………………………………
VII. Conclusions …………………………………………………………
VIII. Recommendations …………………………………………………..
IX. References ……………………………………………………………
X. Appendices
A. American Red Cross Web Site Home Page
B. Neumans Community Assessment Model
C. Community Blood Donation Survey
D. Survey Results
A Community Assessment of Erie County Voluntary Firefighters and Blood Donation
The need for blood grows every day. Blood donation centers continuously request the general population to donate. Specific populations are expected to participate in community activities more, due to the nature of their work. One such group are the volunteer firefighters of Erie County, New York. These are the men and women who rescue victims of accidents and disasters daily. The purpose of this assessment, done in conjunction with the American Red Cross, is to determine whether and why volunteer firefighters participate in blood donation.
The scope of this assessment will include a description of the Erie County volunteer firefighter population, the community structures of the Erie County, and other various aspects of the community as well. It will include health risks and stressors relative to firefighting. The identification of volunteer firefighter needs and recommendations to remedy these needs along with conclusions drawn from the research will be provided. An analysis of the data collected will be provided.
Background Information on Affiliating Agency
The affiliating agency used for this assessment was the American Red Cross. The American Red Cross began in 1881 as an offshoot of the European Red Cross by Clara Barton in Dansville, NY. Its purpose is to “provide emergency aid during civil disasters such as floods and earthquakes, offer humanitarian services for armed forces personnel and their families, and operate centers for the collecting and processing blood and blood products.” (Davis, 1993, p. 79) The name of the local chapter in Erie County is the Greater Buffalo Chapter (see Appendix A).
Definition of Community
Community, according to Anderson and McFarlane (2000), is described as a “complex webs of people shaped by relationships, interdependence, mutual interests, and patterns of interaction” (p. 93). Further, Anderson and McFarlane note “The community encompasses people in a particular time and place” (p.
The term "Community" really did not have the meaning that we are accustomed to hearing and speaking in the modern day and age (1996). Instead it stands for almost a lack of "Community", meaning that there is no choice of where one ranks in the "Community", instead you are assigned even before production (natural birth is non-existent) your place in society and a person could never know what are the differences between being an Alpha or a Gamma. A person in the community is shared by everyone in the "Community", everyone belongs to everyone every person is shared sexually with one another, and there is no emotional bond because are breed not to have them.
‘There is much talk about community in everyday life’ (Popple, 2015, p. 11). Community often gets valued on its spirits as well measured by its population. It can be argued that community is a challenge of
Community is an essential part of the existence of human being. The term community may be describe in so many forms. However, Yiu (2012) define community as a group of people, who live, learn, work, and play in an environment at a given time; they have unique characteristics and interest; function in a social system that meets their needs, such as an organization, a region, a province or a nation (p. 213).
My approach to Red Cross service has also changed at the grassroots level. Shortly after my final chemotherapy treatment, I was dispatched to a residential fire in central Fort Worth. At the scene, I discovered a mother crouched at the curb silhouetted against her smoldering house. While listening to the mother, I learned that she lost her thirteen-year-old son in the blaze. Though I had rehabilitated disaster victims before my illness, this event carried a different significance. While I was learning to live anew, I comforted a mother coping with death. My conversation with the mother compelled me to re-confront my journey with cancer. By reflecting on my own anxieties, still real and familiar, I empathized with the mother on an equal plan rather than that of victim and volunteer. Through service, I now probe my own experiences to assist and empower others.
Blood safety is an important issue. People end up needing blood transfusions for many reasons that all mean they have already entered the medical system needing care for injuries or disease, yet there is a risk that their treatment can hurt or even kill them. Public health has made tremendous strides in blood safety over the past few decades, but there is still more that needs to be done. Because of how broad the donation system is, individual treatment of these adverse reactions is not a good preventative measure and instead this must be seen as a public health issue. Increased reporting, studies, and analysis should be done to decrease the number of adverse reactions to blood and blood products.
The only way hospitals can receive blood is through blood donations. About 34% of the population is eligible to give blood but, as I wrote earlier only 10% of those actually do donate. The possibility of someone patient being turned away from getting a transfusion has always motivated me to donate as often as I can. A basic blood donation takes about a pint of the donor’s blood however, the average red blood cell transfusion is about three pints of blood.
What is a community? Defined in the dictionary a community is “a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.” (Webster). Communities bring people together but they are tear relationships apart. In the following stories the authors of this story demonstrates community as a whole. In Fully Alive, Story Telling Animal, Robopocalypse, Stepford Wives, The Happiness Machine, The Girl Who was Plugged In and The Cave, are stories that deal with community and how it is negative and positive for the characters in the books.
“The American Red Cross, through its strong network of volunteers, donors and partners, is always there in times of need. We aspire to turn compassion into action so that…all people affected by disaster across the country and around the world receive care, shelter and hope; our communities are ready and prepared for disasters; everyone in our country has access to safe, lifesaving blood and blood products; all members of our armed services and their families find support and comfort wherever needed; and in an emergency there are always trained individuals nearby, ready to use their Red Cross skills to save lives.”
Every year communities struggle each year around the nation with issues of life safety. In 2012, the nation’s fire departments responded to 31,854,000 responses that resulted in the deaths 0f 2,855 civilians and injuring 16,500 causing an estimated $12,427 million dollars in damage. (United States Fire Administration, 2014) These incidents put at risk 345,950 career and 783,300 volunteer firefighters that resulted in the deaths of 81 individuals (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2013) and nearly 70,000 reported injuries. ( Karter & Molis, 2013) These numbers represent incidents that are determined to be in the line of duty but do not take into consideration the long-term health risk issues that may develop. Evidence shows that he hazards associated with Fire and Emergency Services are consistent across the board whether paid or volunteer and jeopardize the lives and health of each individual, placing administrative and physical control measures reduces this risk to firefighter within an organization. While it is impossible to eliminate the hazards firefighters face, it is important to identify these hazards as the first step in reducing the potential for loss of life and wellbeing both physically and mentally.
Community is like a Venn diagram. It is all about relations between a finite group of people or things. People have their own circles and, sometimes, these circles overlap one another. These interceptions are interests, common attitudes and goals that we share together. These interceptions bond us together as a community, as a Venn diagram. A good community needs good communication where people speak and listen to each other openly and honestly. It needs ti...
A community is comprised of a group of goal oriented individuals with similar beliefs and expectations. Currently the term is used interchangeably with society, the town one lives in and even religion. A less shallow interpretation suggests that community embodies a lifestyle unique to its members. Similarities within the group establish bonds along with ideals, values, and strength in numbers unknown to an individual. Ideals and values ultimately impose the culture that the constituents abide by. By becoming part of a community, socialization...
Whether it be helping others that need a blood transfusion, or a supplemental source of income, donating plasma is an extravagant process that takes more effort than the normal citizen realizes. Previously I have explained the entirety of the donation procedure, including the waiting room ordeal, the donating, and then the end stages of the process. This information was presented so that others curious about plasma donation can vicariously live the donation process, and get a feel for what really goes on in the Biolife Plasma Center.
Blood donation is a very essential procedure in the health system. The process entails collecting blood from willing donors, testing it and then separating it into its components so that it can be used on patients. Whereas hospitals are the main users of the donated blood, they are not exactly authorised to collect, test and separate it in their own premises. Most of the health institutions get the blood from larger bodies such as the Red Cross or other Community based blood groups. Though initially faced with lots of problems, blood transfusion has been used since 1667 as a solution to some of human illnesses. Since then to now, hospitals have grown so dependent on blood donation and transfusion to save human life. With it being used and applied
Ideas and social networking has evolved to fight the constant moral erosions and sense of obligation that ceased to exist in many American communities and small towns. Community is the idea of guardianship and service outside of oneself; therefore, it is in direct opposition to greed and the self-preservation movement of me, myself, and I.
A Community can be defined as a group of people who don’t just live in the same area, but also share the same interests, experiences and often concerns about the area in which they live. Often when individuals have lived on a street or in an area for a while they become familiar with each other and the issues surrounding them. Children often attend the same schools and grow up together, again sharing similar experiences. In some instances adults may work together, and quite commonly all community members will share the same doctors, dentists, hospitals, health visitors and other public services and facilities.