Credential volunteers during disasters

After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, area hospitals all reported a deluge of volunteer clinicians. This may sound like good news when your facility is suddenly overwhelmed with patients, but it also can be dangerous.

Transfusion medicine technology transfer: traps to avoid

Technology transfer is the process of commercializing technology and taking it from the laboratory to the marketplace. At some stage in the technology transfer process, a due diligence will be undertaken. A due diligence is an enquiry into the technology and, in particular, its ownership. Research organizations including hospitals, universities, and blood banks need to own the intellectual property that they seek to commercialize. They own the intellectual property created by their staff in the course of employment. But volunteers, students, and collaborators, not being members of staff, will own the intellectual property that they create. This gives rise to due diligence and ownership defects, when intellectual property may in fact be owned by someone other than the research organization that seeks to commercialize it. Joint ownership can sometimes prevent commercialization. An assignment of intellectual property from a volunteer or student may sometimes be required. Such an assignment, if it inadequately deals with all relevant issues, may be void pursuant to laws throughout the world. A void deed of assignment may expose the research organization to legal liabilities. The categories of technology transfer traps to be explored are (1) ownership issues arising from the participation of students and volunteers in research, (2) ownership issues arising from collaborative research relationships, (3) ownership issues arising from the participation in research of visitors from another research organization, and (4) ownership issues arising from inventions made by employees. Each of these is considered in the context of the legal and regulatory framework in Australia, Canada, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom.

Dilemma--volunteering help

Last Saturday afternoon I was playing with my family on the beach of a British seaside resort. It became clear that an incident had occurred in the water, when the beach patrol drove very quickly onto the sands closely followed by police cars. The policemen ran straight into the water to pull a small speedboat up on to the beach. I considered joining them to see if any assistance was required, but felt slightly uncomfortable about pushing myself forward, despite being trained in the management of patients with major injuries. A couple of minutes later, two paramedics arrived in an ambulance. Everyone seemed to converge on the small speedboat and I decided to approach the scene in case assistance was required to lift the casualty. When I approached the side of the boat I saw a great deal of blood everywhere and 8 or 10 people leaning over the patient. I asked 'Can I help?' There was no reply. I looked at a woman and said 'Do you need me or do you know what you are doing?' The lady replied to me 'No, I think it's okay, there's a doctor and two paramedics.' I backed off immediately, concerned about treading on people's toes. Twenty minutes later a police helicopter arrived at the scene and the patient had still not been taken out of the boat. Ten minutes after the helicopter had arrived and the patient had still not been moved, I once again, approached the scene and spoke to a police officer. 'I am trained to lift and turn patients with potential spinal injuries. Do you think they need any assistance?' The young policewoman went off to talk to a more senior policeman nearer to the incident, however, she did not speak to the paramedics. After five minutes, I approached both policemen again, and asked if I was required. The policemen both said no and waved me away. It was a further fifteen minutes before the patient was removed on the spine board from the boat, and put into the helicopter. I remained uncomfortable for the rest of the weekend about my response. I realize I tried hard not to offend other health care professionals at the scene, but am anxious that in doing so, I jeopardized the safety of the patient. I have no idea what training the medical bystander had or whether the paramedics were pre-hospital trauma life support trained. Should I have made more effort to satisfy myself that the most appropriate people looked after the patient?

From camp follower to lady in uniform: women, class and military institutions before 1920

In the crisis of the First World War, the vast expansion of military control over civil society included women's work. Women contributed not only directly to war production but also to maintaining the entire socioeconomic structure in jobs such as trolley conductor or farm worker. Hundreds and thousands of women volunteered for war work in social and relief organisations. If their work under wartime conditions did not differ radically from the centuries-old tradition of nursing and other forms of care-giving, the considerable human force they now brought to military support work raised to a new level the debate over the proper role of women in modern democratic society. And whether members of the armed forces, employees or civilian volunteers, they all wore uniforms.

Representations of adolescence in the modern city: voluntary provision and work in Nottingham and Saint-Etienne, 1890-1914

Historians agree that around 1900 the concept of adolescence was reworked, valorized, and given scientific legitimacy. In Western political, pedagogical, philanthropic, and literary circles, an understanding of adolescence as a distinct and universal stage of life achieved currency. However, broad studies have glossed over local differences in provision for and representations of adolescence. By comparing representations of adolescence drawn from voluntary provision and the workplace in two cities, Nottingham (England) and Saint-Etienne (France), this article highlights the cultural relativity of this construct, the different rhythms of its institutionalization, and the motives that led local interest groups to emphasize or underplay its significance.