Health in Emergencies and Disasters Quarterly

en From Uncertainty to Competence: Decision-Making Strategies of Volunteer Ambulance Responders in Indonesian Low-Resource Emergency Care کیفی Qualitative پژوهشي Research <div style="text-align: justify;">Background: Volunteer ambulance personnel play a critical role in prehospital emergency care, especially in low-resource settings. However, limited attention has been given to how they make rapid decisions under uncertain and constrained conditions. Materials and Methods: This qualitative study employed a phenomenological approach, involving in-depth interviews with 20 experienced male volunteers aged 31-40 years with 4-7 years of emergency response experience in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Thematic analysis was used to explore decision-making processes during emergency responses. Results: Four main themes emerged: navigating emergencies with incomplete caller information; making rapid decisions despite limited equipment and environmental challenges; managing pressure from families and bystanders; and reflecting on confidence and identity shaped by repeated field experience. Volunteers relied on clinical intuition, teamwork, and improvisation to adapt to unpredictable situations. Conclusion: Volunteer responders in low-resource environments demonstrate strong adaptive capacity, emotional resilience, and field-based competence in critical decision-making. These findings highlight the need for structured training, institutional support, and policy integration to enhance their role in community-based emergency systems.</div> Volunteer ambulance personnel, prehospital care, critical decision-making, low-resource settings, qualitative research 0 0 http://hdq.uswr.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-554-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Wawan Febri Ramdani wawanramdani@unisayogya.ac.id Yes Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Univeritas Aisyiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Yuni Kurniasih yunikurniasih@unisayogya.ac.id No Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Univeritas Aisyiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Chintya Nur Faizah chintyanurfaizah@unisayogya.ac.id No Faculty of Medicine, Univeritas Aisyiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia