A Abstract (This needs to be about 200 words overall) Background: Methods: Results: Conclusion: ¢ The abstract should provide the context or background for the study and should state the study’s purpose, basic procedures (selection of study subjects, data collection and analytical methods), main findings (including results of statistical tests, if possible), and principle conclusions. It should emphasize new and important aspects of the study or observations. Literature Review Emergency volunteering is scope voluntary that is unique in nature. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2011), it has the lowest number of people turning up to be volunteers. As much as a decline in the emergency service numbers has been reported by various research bodies (ABS 2011, Cowlinshaw, Evans & McLennan 2010), the community has people of varying characteristics. The reasoning behind a community member volunteering for emergency services within their local communities is approached in different perspectives by different people (Baxter-Tomkins & Wallace 2006). People volunteer for community service for different reasons (Weinstein & Ryan 2010). Some of the reasons include; to promote individual’s self-esteem and development, to foster self-efficiency and empathy by understanding the needs of the community and through volunteer programs, one is able to acquire and share skills with people from diverse backgrounds. The importance of volunteering surpasses the knowledge and technical proficiency that a volunteer brings to the community. This does not solely focus on the activities done by the volunteers, but the manner in which they co-operate with the communities and organisations to bring change by developing long standing relationships. This shows how volunteers act the link between the communities and organisations engaged in volunteer programs.It is through such ventures that communal responsibility is attained. Based on the above idea, this research will explore the factors that motivate people to volunteer for emergency services. In defining the meaning of volunteer, it was suggested that to be regarded as a volunteer, altruism must be the outstanding motive where the reward is intrinsic to the act of volunteering (Bussell& Forbes 2002). The volunteer’s motive is a selfless one. Evidence from several studies on this subject can attest to this notion. However, very little information on emergency volunteering is available. It is believed that this type of volunteering is often stressful, and its dangerous nature of work has contributed to low volunteer numbers (Baxter-Tomkins & Wallace 2006). Beatson and McLennan (2005) reported that the County Fire Authority of Victoria says that emergency voluntary services are male dominated in nature because of presumed dangerous nature. There is the need to explore emergency service volunteer gender imbalance also and drive away the fear of the job being dangerous. Although there is an increase in the number of people volunteering, there has been a decrease in the number volunteering in the emergency department (Cowlinshaw, Evans & McLennan 2010). The bigger puzzle is what motivates emergency services volunteers. It is reported that volunteers consider it motivationally important in helping others and learning new skills (Baxter-Tomkins & Wallace 2006, Clary et al. 1998). Altruism plays the part in the decision to volunteer with fighting fires and social activities producing the most satisfaction (Baxter-Tomkins & Wallace 2006). Other reasons also exist as to why people volunteer for emergency services in their local community. While the literature offers the overview of what motivates people to volunteer especially to the emergency services, there is a gap in knowledge to what exactly is the motivation. Baxter-Tomkins and Wallace (2006) depicted the features of volunteers offering emergency services such as their fundamental responsibilities, their composition and the impact recruitment, retention and motivation has on them. The research further outlines the gaps that exist with regard to knowledge. This study was intended for the 18 Australian Emergency Management Volunteer Forum companies. Nevertheless, the main focus is on the New South Wales Rural Fire Service and the New South Wales State Emergency Service. Therefore, this is a narrow scope and the results are limited in this case. Bussell and Forbes (2002) explored the rate at which volunteers increase in relation to volunteer work. According to them, an organisation’s achievement in retaining and recruiting volunteers is determined by the understanding the company has regarding its target. The study encompasses reviews of other studies on the subject matter and summarises the present situation regarding the volunteer service. According to the results, volunteers have very diverse backgrounds and are active in different areas. As much as it depicts the altruistic reasons for volunteering, this study fails to depict the motivational reasons that make individuals volunteer. The theory of planned behaviour emphasizes that the human behaviours are governed not only by personal attitudes but also by social pressures and a sense of control (Moss 2008).This is why it is essential to find out what the volunteer feels about their role and how volunteering works with identity information. There is also need to interview various people who have joined emergency services in the community and know what motivated them to join the service. Research Question: What motivates community members to volunteer for emergency services within their local community? Hypotheses: There is a difference between male and females with regard to the degree that having coverage available in an emergency situation motivates community members to volunteer for emergency services in their local community. And There is a difference between males and females with regard to the degree that ensuring that the non-emergency related operations of emergency services are always ongoing within their local community motivates community members to volunteer for emergency services in their local community. And There is a correlation between younger age with regard to the degree that gaining a pathway into the career of the paid emergency service motivates community members to volunteer for emergency services in their local community. Methods Study Design The quantitative research design being used is a cross sectional observation study. This type of study explains the outcomes of interest of a population or subgroup of population at a particular point in time and is only conducted once (Mann, 2012). This design was used as it is a relatively quick data collection tool and inexpensive (Nardi, 2014). A limitation of the study design is it gives a snap shot of a small group of volunteers. This may not best represent the overall volunteer population (Green &Thorgood, 2009). Participant’s responses could also create bias as they have been individually selected by the researcher. Participants and sampling 22 participants (11 males and 11 females) who are emergency services volunteers were recruited for the study. They all received a letter of introduction (Appendix 1) and an information sheet (Appendix 2) to explain what the survey was about before agreeing to complete the survey. A verbal script (Appendix 3) was read to all participants to ensure they had full knowledge of the study and could make an informed decision on whether they wanted to participate. They signed consent forms (Appendix 4) to say they agreed to participate and were made aware that they could withdraw from the study at any time. Participant’s privacy was ensured by removing anything that could identify them on the survey. All participants had to over the age of 18 years as set out by the Flinders University Ethical Committee. Convenience sampling was utilised by the researcher as it give the researcher convenient accessibility to participants because of their proximity to the researcher (Explorable.com, 2009).The limitation with this sampling technique is sampling bias which may not be representative of the entire population (Explorable.com, 2009). Data Collection Data was collected by using a self-administered questionnaire that the researcher has designed (Appendix 5). It primarily focuses on the participants motivations to volunteer for emergency services. Questions will be based around statements being made on volunteering for emergency services and what motivates them to volunteer for the emergency service within their community. Likert scale will be used for the questioning styles as it allows people to indicate they agree or disagree from the categories they can select from (Allen & Seaman, 2007). The advantage of using this technique in data collection is its ability to gather information quickly from participants in a questionnaire (LaMarca, 2011).However, likertscale only supplies 5 choices in this study, and the gap between each option cannot possibly be central (LaMarca, 2011). Therefore, it neglect’s to gauge the true beliefs of participants (LaMarca, 2011). Data Analysis Data was collected from the questionnaires gathered and coded adequately to be inputted into Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 23.0. Descriptive statistical testing was ran to produce a range of information from gender, age and years of service. Significance of the data was measured by using various testing methods for the three hypotheses proposed. Hypothesis 1 and 2 used a Fisher’s Exact Testwhile hypothesis 3 used a Spearman rank-order correlation test. Results A total of 22 active emergency services volunteers were invited to complete the questionnaire. All 22 participants completed the questionnaire and were received, with 50% (n=11) being males and 50% (n=11) being females. Their ages ranged from 21-70 years of age with a mean of 49.86 years of age and a standard deviation (SD) of 13.32 years. There was varying degrees of years on how long they have been a volunteer for an emergency service. This ranged from 1 year through to 26 years with a mean of 7.41 years and a SD of 6.09 years of emergency service. 5 years was the mode with four participants saying that is how long they have been a current volunteer with an emergency service. Hypothesis 1 was tested by a Fisher’s Exact Test to see if the motivation was to ensure that emergency services are available in an emergency situation was different between genders. With this considered, 73% (n = 8) of males strongly agree and 18% (n = 2) of males agree while only 9% (n = 1) of males strongly disagree. This pattern was very similar to females with 82% (n = 9) strongly agree and 9% (n = 1) agree with only 9% (n = 1) of females disagree. After conducting a Fisher’s Exact Test the result (Exact= 2.34, p = 1.00) failed to reject the null hypothesis with a p value >0.05 (p = 1.00) and concluded that we cannot accept the alternate hypothesis and further study is required. Hypothesis 2 was tested by a Fisher’s Exact Test to see if the motivation was to ensure ongoing operations of emergency services was different between genders. With this considered, 64% (n = 7) of males strongly agree and 27% (n = 3) of males agree while only 9% (n = 1) of males strongly disagree. This pattern was very similar to females with 90% (n = 10) strongly agree with only 9% (n = 1) of females that disagree. After conducting a Fisher’s Exact Test, the result (Exact= 2.378, p = 0.311) failed to reject the null hypothesis with a p value >0.05 (p=0.311) and concluded that we cannot accept the alternate hypothesis and further study is required. Hypothesis 3 was tested using aSpearman rho correlation test to see if there was any correlation between younger age and motivational reasons for people gaining a career pathway as a paid emergency service worker by volunteering for their local emergency service with the results showing that there was no significant relationship (r(22) = -0.107, p= 0.637) between the two variables with the p value >0.005 (p=0.637). Discussion This section needs about 620 words with 4 new references that are peer reviewed Journal articles only dated between 2005 and 2014. It needs to consists of the following: ¢ The discussion should begin by briefly summarizing the main findings and answering your research question/hypotheses. ¢ Explore possible mechanisms or theoretical explanations for these findings, and compare and contrast your results with other relevant studies. ¢ State the limitations of your study and explore the implications of the findings for future research and for clinical practice. ¢ Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and the conclusions that follow from them in the context of the totality of the best available evidence. Conclusion This section needs about 80 words only and need to consist of the following: ¢ Link the conclusions with the goals of the study but avoid unqualified statements andconclusions not adequately supported by the data. References Allen, E & Seaman, C 2007, ˜Likert Scales and Data Analyses’, Quality Progess, vol. 40, no. 7, pp. 64-65. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011, Voluntary Work.Australia, cat no. 4441.0, ABS, Canberra. Baxter-Tomkins, T & Wallace, M 2006, ˜Emergency service volunteers: What do we really know about them?’,Australian Journal of Volunteering, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 7-15. Beatson, R & McLennan, J 2005, ˜Australia’s women volunteer fire fighters: A literature review and research agenda’, Australian Journal on Volunteering, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 18-27. Bussell, H & Forbes, D 2002, ˜Understanding the volunteer market: The what, where, who and why of volunteering’, International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 244-257. Cowlinshaw, S, Evans, L & McLennan, J 2010, ˜Balance between volunteer work and family roles: Testing a theoretical model of work“family conflict in the volunteer emergency services’, Australian Journal of Psychology, vol. 62, no. 3, pp. 169-178. Clary, G, Snyder, M, Ridge, R, Copeland, J, Stukas, A, Haugen, J &Miene, P 1998, ˜Understanding and Assessing the Motivations of Volunteers: A Functional Approach’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 74, no. 6, pp. 1516-1530. Explorable.com 2009, Convenience Sampling, viewed 17 October 2015,