A qualitative exploratory study was undertaken to explore the experiences of 63 respondents: eighteen call-centre staff, dispatcher teams, field supervisors and paramedics, and a total of 45 from hospital EDs, comprising fifteen senior paramedics, fourteen physician consultants and twenty ED nurse managers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants, who all had experience of responding to a disaster and had the authority to communicate with one another during an incident. The interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim and the transcripts were analysed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis.  

Three overarching themes emerged from the findings: (1) Psychological and interpersonal relationships between EMTs; (2)The perceived effectiveness of communications and information systems; (3) EMTs’ perceptions of the disaster preparation. A number of unexpected findings emerged in relation to effective communication within and between EMTs. SRCA and ED paramedics shed light on some of the challenges that they face related to their relationships and teamwork with other stakeholders and how this affected communication and information exchange.  This study posited a connection between these issues and the absence of protocols for best practice. In addition, there were factors associated with technical problems related to the communication systems they used.  Participants also reported issues related to the training they received. As a result of these factors, there was some difficulty ineffective coordination and information exchange between the medical teams. In order to improve communication between EMTs in a disaster, there is a need to develop a clear ICT strategy which includes the availability of effective ICT devices, agreed policies and protocols regarding coordinated communication and a comprehensive program of staff training.