Title An analysis of the motivation of volunteer members in theauxiliary medical service in Hong Kong

Author(s) Ho, Kam-tim.; 何錦添.

Citation

Issued Date 2003

URL http://hdl.handle.net/10722/65253

Rights The author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights)and the right to use in future works.

An analysis of the motivation

of volunteer members in the Auxiliary Medical Service

in Hong Kong

HO Kam-tim

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

degree course of Master of Public Administration

University of Hong Kong

2003

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to acknowledge the assistance of Dr. Ian Thynne for his

unfailing supports, guidance and invaluable commentaries on the process and

drafting of this project.

I would also like to thank the Chief Staff Officer, Dr. Chan Yiu-wing,

Auxiliary Medical Service for his approval of the release of information for this

project and allowing me to interview volunteer members.

Thanks to my wife, Nancy, and my children, Jackie and Brenda, for their

constant supports and patience have enabled me to get through the course.

Finally, thanks to all the volunteers who accepted the interviews and gave

me responses in the questionnaires.

ii

Table of Contents

Page

Acknowledgement ii

Chapter 1 Introduction

Focus of study 1

Conceptual Overview 3

Methodology 5

Structure of the Dissertation 9

Chapter 2 Literature Review

Introduction 11

General Motivation Theory 12

Ideas Concerning Volunteers' Motivation 24

People Who Volunteer 30

Training 35

Conclusion 37

Chapter 3 AMS: Origin, Structure and Operations

Origin 39

Structure of the Organisation 43

Operations of the AMS 48

Conclusion 61

Chapter 4 Members' Survey - Findings and Analysis

Introduction 63

Respondent Profile 64

Job Satisfaction 74

Training 87

Conclusion 91

iii

Chapter 5 Conclusion and Recommendation

Conclusions 94

Recommendations 97

Concluding Comments 101

Bibliography

Appendices

IV

CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION

Focus of study

Keeping a force of volunteers is of substantial importance to a voluntary

organization, particularly through their efforts, all the activities are carried out by

them.

Over the years, the Auxiliary Medical Service (AMS) has continuously been

facing the problem of high dropout rate. In 1996, the LLA Pacific Limited

Consultancy Project Report (LLA Pacific Limited, 1996) recommended the AMS

to provide additional training courses which were believed to be able to reduce

the turnover rate of volunteers. Since then, the AMS has put forward a series of

driver training programmes with a view to retaining the members. Although a

good deal of them has been implemented in the past seven years, the situation

has yet been improved and the same drain of human resources continued.

There is a thinking that the main motive of people joining a voluntary

organization is to serve the community. There are also many academic

researches to emphasis that joining a volunteer organization is for different

purposes. Unless we can trace their main motives of joining a volunteer

organization, we cannot improve the situation. For seven years have lapsed, the

number of turnover rate has not been brought under control. For example, over

the last three years, the dropout rates are 667, 560 and 550 in 2000/01, 2001/02

and 2002/03, out of the strength of 4420, 4068, and 4040 respectively.

1

The tremors of the reversion of sovereignty of Hong Kong to the Peoples'

Republic of China and the recent upsurge of financial turmoil in Hong Kong are

still haunting in the minds of the people of Hong Kong. The high

unemployment rate in principle ought to improve the situation, as the volunteers

can get the pay and allowances if they attend training or performing duties

(Auxiliary Forces Pay and Allowances Ordinance, Cap. 254) (AFPAO), but the

fact is not the case. What are the culprits of causing such situation? In truth,

an effective retention of them requires a clear understanding of the AMS

volunteers' aims of joining the Service, or why they decided to discontinue the

volunteer work after a period of years of services. It is expected that the

reasons for their resignation may be due to various causes, such as, their motive

to join the AMS is not realised, job satisfaction cannot be achieved, the pay and

allowances are not attractive etc. In the face of an average annual volunteer

turnover rate of 12% of the strength and the high cost of training new AMS

members (each member costs $8,385 for the initial recruitment training and

expenses), the organization generally has little ideas of their reasons of leaving.

Having the above mentioned perplexities, coupled with the constant

environmental changes being imposed on the organization, this study will look

into the following points nowadays:

a) To analyse volunteers' socioeconomic status, interpersonal

networks and demographic characteristic of members;

b) To understand the "reasons" of members why they join the

2

Auxiliary Medical Service;

c) To understand members' components of satisfaction and

dissatisfaction of volunteer members;

d) To identify members' satisfaction level of the existing training

and their implications on the motivation of the volunteers;

e) To give recommendations of improving the situation.

Conceptual Overview

During the last century, definitions of volunteerism have changed as often as the

social problems with which volunteers have chosen to grapple. At one point

volunteerism was explained as action that stemmed from emotional commitment

rather than from rational considerations of choice. Dewey (1916) views

volunteerism as an expression of commitment to pragmatic concerns. At still

other times, conceptions of volunteer action were shaped by the image of

missionary service, which was motivated by a blend of dedication to a church

and compassion for "unbelievers" (Ilsley, 1990). Modern theorists also differ in

their conception of volunteerism. Karl (1984) believes that the word

'volunteer' belongs to a class of terms that can be best defined by contrast with

an opposite term, as 'good' can be defined by contrast with 'bad'. He surmises

that for centuries volunteerism is considered opposite to religious doctrine and,

later, to enforce military service. Other modern theorists have had other views

of volunteerism. Schattschneider (1984) describes volunteer work in terms of the

pioneer "barn-raising" ethic, in which people give time and service in response to

a known individual or community need. Popular literature denotes volunteering

3

as neighbourly, selfless commitment to the good of society (Bellah, 1985).

Volunteering has long existed in our society. Volunteers are strong driving

forces to development of social services. Therefore, in a modern society,

voluntary service is an alternative way to provide service to the community when

the regular service cannot meet the demand of the society. Alternatively, the

government may make use of volunteerism as a way to encourage people to

contribute their valuable efforts to the community without incurring much

expense. Volunteerism can play dual roles: on one hand, it can provide

opportunity for those who are under-privileged to serve the others, thus providing

a chance for them to integrate to the society; and on the other hand, provide a

mutual assistance mechanism, that today I help you, perhaps tomorrow you may

help me. Promoting the citizenship and community involvement, volunteer

organizations can therefore play an important role in the effective use of human

resources in a society.

Having the volunteerism in mind, this study will first define the definition

of motivation. Understanding the concept can enable this study to confine its

boundary of research. As this study pays much attachment to the volunteers.

The factors of social-economic status, interpersonal networks and demographic

characteristic of volunteers are looked into, for they can provide a better

understanding of an individual who volunteers. Moreover, the investigation of

the altruism can also give some hints on the reasons why they volunteer. The

study will take the from-general-to-specific approach. The two main categories

of theories of motivation, namely, the extrinsic based rewards and the intrinsic

4

based rewards will firstly be reviewed, for they are the core and fundamental to

the understanding of the concept of motivation. Lastly, the effect of training on

volunteers will be examined.

Methodology

Cotton & Turtle (1986) & Bluedorn (1982) conducted many studies of the causes

of employee turnovers, most of them were on the formal 'workers'. But there is

only a small percentage of study focused on volunteers. Additionally, it is

conceivable that different motivational factors on volunteers may change over

time and it is important to investigate into the root of the motivation problem.

Hence, this study is undertaken to promote the body of research by assessing

motivation in the aspect of expectations of the volunteers of the AMS, their

needs, or motive their demographic and social characteristics.

For the avoidance of doubt, it is necessary to outline the bounds of the

present study. Lee Jack-pui (1994) puts it in the following ways: "Volunteer -

"Anyone who chooses to act in recognition of others' need out of social

responsibility without a regard to material award." The traditional definition of

volunteer especially outlined by Lee Jack-pui is not applicable to the AMS.

The peculiarities of the AMS are that AMS is one of the government departments

of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region under the Auxiliary Medical

Service Ordinance (AMSO) and AMS members are awarded with pay and

allowances when they have attended training or performed duties under the

AFPAO.

5

Having such peculiarities, this study's target is confined to the volunteer

members of the AMS and to survey their motivation. Target population for

soliciting their views is confined to the active members. The survey does not

include those ex-members who have resigned or retired form the Service. The

study is making use of minutes of meetings, government reports, official papers,

past publications and papers, and other primary sources. Moreover, interviews

of volunteers, distribution of questionnaires to the following grades of the AMS

will be included:

a) Member (i.e. Auxiliary Dresser / Auxiliary Nurse II),

b) Non-commissioned Officer (i.e. Auxiliary Dresser I / Auxiliary

Nurse I or Senior Auxiliary Dresser / Senior Auxiliary Nurse),

c) Junior Officer (i.e. Assistant Supervisor / Supervisor),

d) Senior Officer (i.e. Divisional Officer /District Commander

Assistant Divisional Officer / Assistant District Commander),

e) Commanding Officer (i.e. Assistant Branch Commander and

above).

This survey does not include those officers whose ranks are from Assistant

Commissioner to Commissioner, because they belong to the most senior level.

Their job nature is mainly related to the policymaking, decision making and

strategy formulation. These are not comparable to the other junior officers.

These posts being 9 in 2003, it is only 0.2 % of the establishment. Its effect is

negligible and will not affect the reliability of the survey. Civilian staff and the

6

other full-time departmental permanent staff are also excluded, as they are not

the volunteers of the study.

In order to gain access to information, the author had obtained permission

from the Chief Staff Officer (Head of the department of the permanent staff) to

conduct the study in May 2003 (Appendix A).

Even though the interviewees will be asked the same questions of the

questionnaire, there are multiple purposes to include interview in the survey.

First, it can be an assurance to obtain adequate responses to complete the

questionnaire, as there is no guarantee to know how many questionnaires will be

responded and how many questions they will answer. Secondly, different

responses can be obtained which are not outlined in the questionnaire. Thirdly,

interview can enable the interviewees to express freely and more information can

be obtained.

The main source of information is mainly from the questionnaire. The

questionnaire is designed to solicit information from the members. Although

the majority of the volunteers are Chinese, it is decided to have the questionnaire

in bilingual, the English version is catered for expatriate members and the

Chinese version for the Chinese members. It is believed the misunderstandings

and language barrier can be minmised.

For the purpose of having a systematic approach, the questionnaire is

divided into three sections. The first section is designed to obtain demographic,

7

social social-economic status, interpersonal relationship details of the

respondents; these are sex, age, lengths of service, education, occupation, marital

status, rank and factors influencing a member's joining the AMS. Specifically,

respondents will be also asked to indicate their job nature other than the AMS.

They will be asked whether they are medical professions; whether they are

administrators of private or public sector; their social relationship with the other

members. These are made in a bid to investigating whether there are any

connections between their individual personal characteristics and the staying or

joining the AMS.

Since job satisfaction is considered to have relation with absenteeism and

turnover, section II tries to investigate the respondents' aims of joining the AMS;

their feelings of job satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the activities of the AMS.

They will be asked of three questions relating to expectations of joining the AMS,

whether their expectations have been achieved. A series of questions are set

through the Hersberg (1959), Adam's Equity (1965) and Maslow's (1987)

theories to solicit their thinking. As there may be other reasons to join the AMS,

respondents will be allowed to have at most three choice among five choices and

if these do not cover the respondents' choice, they may specify them in the

'others' column. Due to the nature of the information solicited, some questions

are designed to ask the respondents to select one choice. Through these questions

it is hoped that some insights can be gained of the motivation.

In section III, it focuses on the issue of training, asking their feelings of

training, their needs and their satisfaction on training. Again, the respondents

8

will be asked to rate each statement using the 1-choice format.

As the questionnaire cannot comprehensively cover all the background

scenario of all the respondents, they will be allowed to make their own comments.

As such more in-dept information can be obtained.

Interviews and distribution of questionnaires were made on 25 May 2003

and 1 June 2003 in two meetings in which 309 and 206 members attended

respectively. Of all the 515 questionnaires issued, 246 and 162, making a total

of 408, were returned on 25 May 2003 and 1 June 2003 respectively. The

response rate is 79.2 %. The response rate is considered quite high.

At the same time, in the morning on the same days, as other activities were

conducted in the same building, interviews were conducted. There were

altogether 10 members (5 on each day) interviewed. The interviewees were asked

the same questions as listed in the questionnaire. Hence, these 10

questionnaires were pooled into the questionnaires issued in the gathering.

Therefore, the total number of returned questionnaires is 418.

Structure of the Dissertation

This study is divided into 5 chapters and the flow is briefly as following:

In Chapter two, this study will review the major theoretical aspect of

motivation. It will take the from-general-to-specific approach. It includes the

9

two main categories of theories of motivation, namely, the extrinsic based

rewards and the intrinsic based rewards. These two will firstly be reviewed.

Then, the concept of altruism will be discussed, the factors of social-economic

status, interpersonal networks and demographic characteristic of volunteers will

be studied. Lastly, the effect of training on them will be examined.

In Chapter three, It will contain the AMS's historical development,

background information, the roles and responsibilities of the organisation. It

describes the detailed works of the volunteers, the turnover of membership of the

organisation, the types of training and the costs of the turnover.

In Chapter four, the findings and analysis of the survey will be delineated;

the social-economic, interpersonal networks and demographic data will be tabled

and analysed. Attempts to relate the motivation concept to the AMS members'

feelings will be made. The research is designed mainly in the form of survey

and document research of the AMS. The collection of data and analysis data will

be explained. It is hoped that some insight of the degree of satisfaction of the

members with their jobs will be taken and therein some information can be

collected to improve the degree of satisfaction.

In Chapter five, conclusions of the findings, and recommendations based on

the findings are outlined to conclude the study.

10

CHAPTER 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

People agree that human resource is a valuable asset in an organisation. In

order to maintain the competitive efficiency, an organisation needs to know how

to motivate people to join the institute; to stay; to contribute performance and,

particularly for a voluntary organisation, to volunteer. To this end, it is very

important to study motivation in an organisation, as it can explain why people are

motivated; how a manager can use it as an instrument to induce an individual to

work towards the successful attainment of the goal and objectives of the institute.

The study of motivation can also provide a platform for the investigation of the

causal status of motive and attitudes in organisational behaviour.

This chapter will take the from-general-to-specific approach. The two main

categories of theories of motivation, namely, the extrinsic based rewards and the

intrinsic based rewards will firstly be reviewed, for they are the core and

fundamental to the understanding of the concept of motivation. Secondly, this

review will specifically look into the altruism [for Ross and Shillington (1989) in

a study, 92% of the respondents said that helping others was a very important or

somewhat important reason for volunteering], the factors of social-economic

status, interpersonal networks and demographic characteristic of volunteers,

because they can provide a better understanding of an individual who volunteers.

Lastly, because of the special nature of services provided by the AMS, the effect

11

of training on them will be examined.

General Motivation Theory

The study of motivation is concerned, basically, with why people behave in a

certain way. In general terms, motivation can be described as the direction and

persistence of action. It is concerned with why people choose a particular

course of action in preference to others, and why they continue with a chosen

action, often over a long period, and in the face of difficulties and problems.

From a review of motivation theory, Michell (1982) identifies four common

characteristics, which underlie the definition of motivation:

a) Motivation is typified as an individual phenomenon. Every person is

unique and all the major theories of motivation allow for this uniqueness to

be demonstrated in one way or another.

b) Motivation is described, usually, as intentional. Motivation is

assumed to be under the worker's control, and behaviours that are influence

by motivation, such as effort expended are seen as choices of action.

c) Motivation is multifaceted. The two factors of greatest importance

are:

i) what gets people activated (arousal); and

ii) the force of an individual to engage in desired behaviour

(direction or choice of behaviour),

d) The choice of motivational theories is to predict behaviour.

Motivation is not the behaviour itself, and it is not performance.

12

Motivation concerns action, and the internal and external forces which

influence a person's choice of action.

On the basis of these characteristics, Mitchell (1982) defines motivation as -

"the degree to which an individual wants and chooses to engage in certain

specified behaviours."

When we compare Pinder's (1984) definition of motivation - "is a set of

forces, either weak or strong, to initiate, direct, and sustain work-related

behavior." It purports that the underlying concept of motivation is some driving

force within individuals by which they attempt to achieve some goal in order to

fulfil some need or expectation.

Mullins (1996) claims that people's behaviour is determined by what

motives them. Their performance is a product of both ability and motivation.

If manager is to improve work of the organisation, attention must be given to the

level of motivation of its members. He further elaborated that individuals

have a variety of needs and expectations which they attempt to satisfy in a

number of different ways, if their needs are not met, they will become

dissatisfied with their job.

Muchinsky and Turtle (1979) summarized 39 studies of the relationship

between satisfaction and turnover. They all appear that the more people dislike

their jobs, the more likely they are to quit.

13

Mobley (1977) contends that feelings of dissatisfaction provoke thoughts of

quitting, which in turn prompt the search for another job. If the costs of quitting

are too high, the person may reevaluate the job (producing a change in

satisfaction), think less about quitting, and / or use other responses like absence

and passive behaviour. If the costs are not too high and the other job looks

goods, this will stimulate the intention to quit, followed by actual quitting.

Satisfaction is a determinant of turnover, but the economic must also be

considered. Muchinsky and Morrow (1980) believe that satisfaction will be a

better predictor of turnover in good economic times. They postulate that under

conditions of high unemployment, employees would rather endure feelings of

dissatisfaction than be out of work. Under good economic conditions with

plentiful jobs, dissatisfaction cold readily result in turnover if other jobs are

available.

Vroom (1964) suggests that job satisfaction is related to voluntary labour

turnover, in the sense that high job satisfaction is associated with low voluntary

labour turnover and vice versa, and indicated that the dissatisfied worker is more

likely to leave than the satisfied worked. Brayfield, A.H. et al (1955) believes

that there is significant relationship between employee dissatisfaction and

subsequent turnover.

Mobley, W. H.(1977) develops a better understanding of how job

satisfaction affect turnover and believes that the probability of someone resigning

is a function of the difference in strength between force to remain and force to

14

leave. He hypothesises that dissatisfaction led to thinking of quitting, intention to

search, intention to stay or leave and finally actually turnover. However, others

studies show that there are other factors influencing job satisfaction and in turn

have impact on the turnover rate of the employee.

As a starting point, the following is a broad two-fold classification for the

motivation to work:

a) Extrinsic Reward - such as pay, fringe benefit, pension right, material

goods and security. This is an instrumental orientation to work and

concerned with 'other things'.

b) Intrinsic Reward - which is derived from the nature of the work itself,

interest in the job, and personal growth and development. This is a

personal orientation to work and concerned with 'oneself.

A person's motivation, job satisfaction will be determined by the

comparative strength of these sets of needs and expectation, and the extent to

which they are fulfilled. For example, some people may make a deliberate

choice to forgo intrinsic rewards (particularly in the short term or in the earlier

years of their working life) in return for high economic reward. Other people

are happy to accept comparatively lower economic rewards in favor of a job that

has high intrinsic rewards.

A useful starting point is the work of Maslow (1987), and his theory of

individual development and motivation. Maslow's basic proposition is that

people are wanting beings, they always want more, and what they want depends

15

on what they already have. He suggests that human needs be arranged in a

series of levels, a hierarchy of importance. These are: a) physiological needs;

b) safety needs; c) social needs; d) esteem needs; e) self-actualisation needs.

Once a lower need has been satisfied it no longer acts as a strong motivator.

The needs of the next higher level in the hierarchy demand satisfaction and

become the motivating influence. Only unsatisfied needs motivate a person.

Thus Maslow asserts that 'a satisfied need is no longer a motivator'. Although

Maslow suggests that most people have these basic needs in the order indicated,

he also makes it clear that the hierarchy is not necessarily a fixed order.

However, Mullins (1996) criticises that there are a number of problems in

relating Maslow's theory to the work situation. These include the following:

i) People do not necessarily satisfy their needs, especially higher-level

needs just through the work situation. They satisfy them through other

areas of their life as well. Therefore, the manager would need to have a

complete understanding of people's private and social life, not just their

behaviour at work.

ii) Individual differences mean that people place different values on the

same need. For example, some people prefer what they might see as the

comparative safety of working in a bureaucratic organisation to a more

highly paid and higher status position, but with less job security, in a

different organisation.

iii) Even for people within the same level of the hierarchy, the motivating

factors will not be the same. There are many different ways in which

16

people may seek satisfaction of, for example, their esteem needs.

iv) Some rewards or outcomes at work satisfy more than one need.

Higher salary or promotion, for example, can apply to all levels of the

hierarchy.

Based on a study with engineers and accountants, Hersberg (1959)

distinguishes between two sets of factors affecting motivation and work. One

set of factors are those which, if absent, cause dissatisfaction. These factors are

related to the job context, they are concerned with job environment and extrinsic

to the job itself. These factors are the 'hygiene' factors or maintenance factors.

They serve to prevent dissatisfaction. The other set of factors are those which,

if present, serve to motivate the individual to superior effort and performance.

These factors are related to job content of the work itself. They are the

'motivators'. The strength of these factors will affect feelings of satisfaction or

no satisfaction, but not dissatisfaction.

17

The two sets of factors are listed below:

Table 2.1

Motivating factors and Hygiene Factors

The hygiene factors can be related roughly to Maslow's lower-level needs

and the motivators to Maslow's higher-level needs. Proper attention to the

hygiene factors will tend to prevent dissatisfaction, but does not by itself create a

positive attitude or motivation to work. It brings motivation up to a zero state.

The opposite of dissatisfaction is not satisfaction but, simply, no dissatisfaction.

To motivate workers to give of their best the manager must give proper attention

to the motivators. The work of Herzberg indicates that it is more likely good

performance leads to job satisfaction rather than reverse.

Herzberg's theory is, however, a source of frequent debate. There have

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Motivating Factors (the Satisfiers)

Sense of achievement

Recognition

Responsibility

Nature of Work

Personal growth and advancement

Hygiene Factors (the Dis-satisfiers)

Salary

Job security

Working conditions

Level and quality of supervision

Company policy and administration

Interpersonal relation

been many other studies to test the theory. The conclusions have been mixed.

Some studies provide support for the theory. However, it has also been attached

by a number of writers. Vroom (1964) claims that the two-factor theory is only

one of many conclusions that can be drawn from the research.

From a review of the research, House and Wigdor (1967) draw attention to

the influence of individual differences. A given factor may be the cause of job

satisfaction for one person but job dissatisfaction for another person, or vice

versa. Within the sample of people, a given factor can be the source of both

satisfaction and dissatisfaction. House and Wigdor conclude that the two-factor

theory is an over-simplification of the source of satisfaction and job satisfaction.

This original supporting research for the two-factor theory was based on

surveys of paid employees. Smith and Berns (1981) points out that volunteers

are in fact motivated by conditions that are both intrinsic and extrinsic to the job:

Pay, is an extrinsic reward which is valued more by employee whose jobs

offer relatively few opportunities for personal growth, independence,

self-expression and other intrinsic rewards (Bevan, 1987).

Two noteworthy studies investigated satisfaction with pay. Dyer and

Theriault (1976) studied pay satisfaction in three samples of US and Canadian

managers. The managers also provided information on their current pay level,

the personal inputs they brought to the job (such as training, experience, seniority,

effort, and performance), and the priority they felt should be given to several

19

factors in making salary decisions. Each of these variables is correlated with the

pay scale. The best single predictor is level of pay; the more people are paid, the

more satisfied they are with their pay. Also, managers who felt that not enough

importance was placed on the cost of living in making salary decisions were

dissatisfied with their pay. The authors conclude that their study add to our

understanding of why people are satisfied with pay.

A second study in this area is conducted by Weiner (1989). It assessed pay

satisfaction in a sample of public service employees by using their pay scale. It

also collected information on attitudes toward turnover. Results show that the

more dissatisfied employees are with pay, the more likely they are to be absent

and quit.

The dissatisfaction of pay may promote poor performance, work stoppages,

turnover and overall satisfaction (Lawer, 1971).

Another important categories of theories of motivation concerns with the

'mental side.' A school of thought claims that wants or needs alone could not

motive bahaviour. An unfulfilled need, or combination of needs can make some

activities that can satisfy the specific need seem attractive but one's motivation to

exert the effort to perform that activity will be greater or less, depending upon

one's beliefs and expectancies about the chances of one's actions leading to the

outcome desired.

Vroom(1964) is the first person to propose an expectancy theory aimed at

20

specifically at work motivation. His model is based on three key variables:

valence, instrumentality and expectancy. The theory is founded on the idea that

people prefer certain outcomes from their behaviour to others. They anticipate

feelings of satisfaction should the preferred outcome be achieved.

i) Valence: the feeling about specific outcomes is termed valence. This

is the attractiveness of, or preference for, a particular outcome to the

individual. Vroom distinguishes valence from value. A person may

desire an object but then gain little satisfaction from obtaining it.

Alternatively, a person may strive to avoid an object, but finds, subsequently,

that it provides satisfaction. Valence is the anticipated satisfaction from an

outcome. This may differ substantially from value, which is the actual

satisfaction provided by an outcome.

ii) Instrumentality: the valence of outcome derive, therefore, from

their instrumentality. This leads to a distinction between first-level

outcomes and second-level outcomes. The first-level outcomes are

performance-related. They refer to the quantity of output or to the

comparative level of performance. Some people may seek to perform well

'for its own sake' and without thought to expected consequences of their

action. The second level outcomes are need-related. They are derived

through achievement of first-level outcomes, that is through achieving high

performance. Many need-related outcomes are dependent upon actual

performance rather than effort expended. People generally receive rewards

for what they have achieved, rather than for effort alone or through trying

hard,

iii) Expectancy: when a person chooses between alternative behaviours

21

which have uncertain outcome, the choice is affected not only by the

preference for a particular outcome, but also by the probability that such an

outcome will be achieved. People develop a perception of the degree of

probability that the choice of a particular action will actually lead to the

desired outcome. This is expectancy.

The main theme of theory is the greatest motivating force is related to

expectancies and valences of outcome.

Motivation = Valence of outcome x expectancy of outcome

Although Vroom's theory can be easily understood, the question is how to

assign values to valences and expectancies. It is quite difficult to quantify the

variables. It does not describe nor analyse the difference in expectancies and

valences among individuals, which can be attributed to their different education,

experience, social background etc. These differences can result in a different

outcome. Therefore, it only illustrates the complex motivational process without

describing how motivational decisions are actually made or to solve actual

motivational problems facing a manager.

Later Porter and Lawler (1975) expand on Vroom's theories and state that

individual decision to exert effort will depend upon three perceptions about the

effort-receiving situation. First, there are available rewards for successful

performance resulting from effort to be expanded and that these rewards have

attractiveness for the individual. Second, the successful performance as a result

22

of expanding effort will in fact bring forth their rewards. Third, the expenditure

of effort will result in successful performance. Moreover, successful

performance also depends on the skills and abilities of the individual and their

perception.

The expectancy theory presents a framework on how a manager can

motivate his staff. These include:

i) Rewards must be suitable for the individual to be motivators.

ii) Manager must then define what level of performance they want so that

their staff can know what to do to be rewarded.

iii) Manager must make the performance level attainable and the

appropriate reward must be clearly associated with a period of time with

successful performance.

Adams (1965) equity focuses on people's feeling of how fairly they have

been treated in comparison with the treatment received by others. People

evaluate their social relationships in the same way as buying or selling an item.

People expect certain outcomes in exchange for certain contributions, or inputs.

Social relationships involve an exchange process. For example, a volunteer

may expect promotion as an outcome of a high level of contribution in helping to

achieve an important organisational objective. Volunteers also compare their

own position with that of others. They determine the perceived equity of their

own position. Their feelings about the equity of the exchange are affected by

the treatment they receive when compared with what happens to other people.

According to the theory, people place weighting on those various inputs and

23

outcomes according to how they perceive their importance. When the ratio of a

person's total outcomes to total inputs equals the perceived ratio of other people's

total outcomes to total inputs there is equity. When there is an unequal

comparison of ratios the person experiences a sense of inequity. A feeling of

inequity causes tension, which is an unpleasant experience. The presence of

inequity therefore motivates the person to remove or to reduce the level of

tension and the perceived inequity. The level of tension created determines the

strength of motivation. The inequality may induce a volunteer to try to find a

new situation with a more favorable balance, for example, by absenteeism,

request for a transfer or resignation from the AMS.

Ideas Concerning Volunteers' Motivation

One of the fundamental questions related to volunteer development is "What

motivates people to commit their personal resources, emotional energy, and time

to volunteering?" Altruism is defined in the Concise Oxford Dictionary (1990)

as " regard for others as a principle of action." The humanitarian motives of

volunteers elicit a great deal of controversy, exacerbated by the fact that

volunteers themselves consistently list "service to others" as their most important

reason for volunteering. There is research support for the existence of altruism

(Myers, 1983). Some sociobiological theories contend that it is an evolutionary

advantage for members of a species to act altruistically. These theories propose

a sort of natural selection favoring altruistic behavior. Social norm theories

have identified and provided scientific support for the existence of the social

responsibility norm. This norm influences us to help needy, deserving people,

24

even if they cannot reciprocate. Usually, many of us have come to label people

as altruistic only if they do something without anticipating anything in return.

Whether or not we accept the existence of unconditional altruism, volunteers

often cite the desire to help others as at least one reason for choosing to volunteer

(Ross and Shillington, 1989). However, to the extent that altruism is a primary

motivator for an individual, the mission of the agency and its perceived

alignment with the goal of helping others will affect the success in attracting that

person to volunteer (Widmer, 1985).

One study of board member participation confirms the relevance of belief in

the cause. A large majority is motivated by the contribution. Each person can

make to the important work the agency does in the community; pride in and

passion for the service provided by an organization is being recognized more and

more as a volunteer motivator (Bianchi, 1993). Nevertheless, not everyone

agrees that altruism is a primary motivator for volunteering. It can be said that

most of the current literature acknowledges altruism as at least none component

in the motivation to volunteer. Flashman and Quick (1985) consider altruism is a

primary motivational factor in volunteer behavior. Olson (1965) describes the

presumption that members of developed societies have some undefined 'instinct'

to join associations. He suggests that this is a label for their actions, not an

explanation. Rather, he argues that volunteers derive some benefit themselves,

personally, from joining (although he does not suggest exactly what this benefit

might be). Gidron (1977), who suggests that volunteers report numerous

non-altruistic reasons for volunteering, draws similar conclusions. He notes that,

since volunteers also state that they work for self-oriented reasons and often give

25

no clear reasons at all, the suggestion that altruism is the essence of volunteering

is more romance than a description of reality.

It seems it derives from the use of the term 'altruism' rather than the more

accurate term, 'prosocial.' Rushton and Sorrentino (1981) suggest that to be

altruistic implies 'self-sacrifice' or actions that are contrary to the actor's best

interest. In contrast, 'prosocial' acts are those designed to produce and maintain

the well-being of others without restriction in other kinds of potential 'payoffs'

for the actors. Volunteering clearly is prosocial, and for some individuals these

generalized service goals may be the dominant motives. Prosocial motives

plays some role in understanding organizational volunteers, since volunteering

for organizational work is clearly only one of the many leisure activities that

provide opportunities for rewards such as personal growth and conviviality.

Clark and Wilson (1961) suggest that new associations and organizations are

dominated by members with purposive interests (goal achievement) but that for

many mature ones solitary motives have more importance. Pearce (1983)

reports that volunteers themselves report a decline in the importance of service

motives after joining their organizations. Gallup Organization (1987) also

provides evidence that there is the decline in importance of generalized service as

motivation to remain.

It may be suggested that while the initial motivation to volunteer may be

altruistic, that motivation may also be reassessed in terms of return. Similarly,

the decision to continue as a volunteer will be evaluated in terms of its costs and

reward.

26

As far as the voluntary service is concerned, most research in the volunteer

motivation literature does not test Maslow's theory but presuppose its truth.

Researchers use Maslow's theory as a paradigm from which to analyse or explore

the issues related to volunteer motivation (Knowles, 1972). This has resulted in

some very interesting and practical work. Vineyard (1984), in a book dedicated

to volunteer programme marketing issues, discusses the implications of

Maslow's theory for volunteer motivation. The connection she makes between

unmet needs and volunteer management is summerised in Table 2.2

Although Maslow did not originally intend that the need hierarchy should

necessarily be applied to the work situation and Knowles (1972) explored the

consequences of structuring volunteerism around the need for self-actualisation,

rather than the most basic needs such as love and safety, it still remains popular

as a theory of motivation at work. Despite criticisms and doubt about its

limitation, the theory has had a significant impact on management approaches to

motivation and the design of organisations to meet individual needs. It is a

convenient framework for viewing the different needs and expectations that

people have where they are in the hierarchy, and the different motivators that

might be applied to people at different levels.

27

Table 2.2

Unmet Needs and Volunteer Assignments

The potential Volunteer

Has gifts that are unused

Feels unrecognised,

undervalued, or anonymous

in other settings

Feels lonely

Is fearful of losing job

Has a fixed or lower income

Type of Volunteer Assignment

Opportunities to use unused

gifts

Opportunities to be rewarded,

openly recognised, and

spotlighted

Opportunities that allow

meeting and getting to know

other people

Chances to build new skill,

gain new experiences, or

expand resumes

Opportunities that happen to

have a free meal attached to

them or offer them a winter

heated or summer-cooled site in

which to work

Unmet Need that may

be fulfilled

Self-actualisation

Esteem

Love

Safety

Physiological

Time Dollars are private credits backed and distributed by local non-profit

organisations. Time Dollars record, store, and reward transactions where

28

neighbours help neighbours. People earn Time Dollars by using their skills and

resources to help others - by providing child or elder care, transportation,

cooking, home improvement. The idea is simple: One hour of service equals one

Time Dollar. In turn, people spend Time Dollars to get similar help for

themselves or their families when the time comes that they need it. Time Dollars

can also be redeemed at clubs that gives people discounts on food or health care.

Time Dollars empower any person to convert personal time into purchasing

power - stretching limited cash dollars further and matching unused capacity

with unmet demand. They reinforce reciprocity and trust. They reward civic

engagement and acts of decency in a way that generates social capital, one hour

at a time. They are bringing people together in communities all around the

nation.

There are many reasons why Time Dollars are an idea whose time has come

(Website: www.timedollars.org.com):

First, Time Dollars create the functional equivalent of an extended family in

an era in which many families are too small, too fragile, or too dispersed to

perform the functions we once counted on them to fulfill.

Second, Time Dollars generate and reward the reciprocity and civic

engagement that are the essential components of social capital. They can play a

role in rebuilding the infrastructure of trust and caring that creates safe

neighborhoods and healthy communities.

29

Third, social programmes - governmental, non-profit, and private sector -

fail if they cannot generate sustained participation by the recipient: students,

patients, beneficiaries, at-risk groups. If that participation and labour is essential,

we need to define it as work and reward it accordingly.

Fourth, government and human service professionals pay attention to people

who bring problems, needs, and deficiencies. That inadvertently rewards

dependency. We need to shift from "problem-centered" to "asset-centered"

responses that enable even the most troubled to pay back by helping others and to

secure rewards by using their strengths to contribute to the well-being of all.

Fifth, Time Dollars can leverage the charity work that businesses already

provide by requiring recipients to pay for them in-kind - with volunteer work of

their own.

Time Dollars supply a strategy for performing all of these tasks. The

exchanges they generate, record, and compensate convert human capacity into

the kinetic energy needed to strengthen families, rebuild community, and

enhance the quality of civic life.

People Who Volunteer

A clearer understanding of the individual who volunteers should help us to

understand volunteer motivation better. There is a large body of empirical

research on volunteering, and although this effort suffers the theoretical

30

fragmentation, it is an excellent database for theory-building. Pearce (1983)

proposes that these findings have two major strengths. First, there have been

numerous replications, over time and across different population. Second, the

work on economic social and demographic characteristics is useful precisely

because the measures are reliable. Measures of education, sex property

ownership are not without measurement error, but this error is minimal when

compared to the error in such variables as self-reporting of reasons for

volunteering. Hence, it is intended to know a lot of about whom volunteers and

this evidence provide a solid foundation for learning more about why individuals

volunteer.

The results of this research will be grouped into three categories:

socioeconomic status, interpersonal networks and demographic characteristic.

Socioeconomic status

Those with higher income, educational level, occupational status, and family

lineage status and those who own more property are more likely to volunteer.

Edwards and White (1980) analyzed which of the socioeconomic predictors of

volunteering (e.g. income, education, or occupational status) explain the most

variance in a sophisticated multivariate model of volunteering. McPherson and

Lockwood (1980) completed a community study data using multivariate

techniques. Using multiple regression, in which they systematically controlled

for alternative explanatory variables, they point out that education is the better

predictor of volunteering. Furthermore, socioeconomic status is consistently

31

associated with the kinds of organizations joined: blue collar volunteers are more

likely to join sports clubs, church, with the middle and upper classes

concentrated in educational, business and professional groups. Members of

different social groups appear to be attracted to different kinds of organizations.

Lunderg (1934) argues that those of higher socioeconomic status have more

leisure time to volunteer. This explanation appears to be too simplistic, since

other groups with ample time such youth, the aged and the unemployed have

markedly lower levels of volunteering. Perhaps the higher the socioeconomic

status of an individual, then the greater his or her attractions for status-oriented

organizations.

Interpersonal networks

Wanous (1980) finds that the organisational practices designed to 'recruit'

employees can result in unrealistically high expectations and, subsequently, in

high turnover. His empirical research demonstrated that 'realistic recruitment'

led to equal rates of job acceptance but to lower subsequent turnover.

How might these well-established ideas apply to volunteers? It seems the

best form of realistic job preview for volunteers may be having a friend or

associate already working for the organisation. Friends and family members are

unlikely to mislead (although they may suffer from enthusiasm). The fact that

personal contact is the dominant form of recruiting may be an artifact of the

lower turnover of recruited friends, family members, and associates. Since

dissatisfied volunteers would be expected to leave immediately, with no need to

32

secure alternative employment, volunteers recruited through friends and family

may be the only ones not to leave and so are to be found in most organisations at

any point in time.

Therefore, Anderson (1943) remarks that those who come into contact with

volunteers are more likely to volunteers. Adam and Mogey (1967) propose that

the spouses of volunteers are more likely to also be volunteers. Zimmer (1956)

suggests familiarity, rather than some inherent differences in propensity to

volunteer, is the most important factor, for he interviewed a random sample of

residents of a small Midwestern town to discover how recent rural immigrants

differed from long-time town dwellers in their pattern of volunteering, and other

characteristic. He finds that immigrants are initially less likely to volunteer, but

that they soon approximate the volunteering levels of the native population.

This research is supported by Stark and Bainbridge (1980). They point out that

recruitment into religious groups depends heavily on social networks. In

addition, the importance of personal networks in the recruitment of volunteers is

found in the positive correlation between volunteering and having a large number

of friends (Scott, 1957). There is substantial research demonstrating that most

organizational volunteers are recruited through personal contact (Sills, 1968).

He found that only 10% of the volunteers in his sample volunteered on their own

initiative; the rest were recruited by a friend (52%), another member of the

community (20%), or by an occupational colleague (18%).

The evidence is strong consistent that most volunteers are recruited by their

friends, relatives, or associates. Thus, those with more extensive personal

33

contacts are more likely to be recruited. The more people you know, the more

likely you are to know a volunteer eager to recruit a co-worker.

Demographic characteristic

There are studies reporting relationships between volunteering and demographic

characteristics, but the relationship between age and volunteering is complex:

volunteering among teenagers increases until about 18 years, then decreases,

remaining low until the late twenties, when it rises, reaching a peak from age 40

to 55, from which it gradually decrease. Mayo (1950) studied the participation

rates for each person over 10 years of age in a rural South Carolina country. He

noted an increase in participation during teenage years but found a sharp decline,

to the lowest rates for any group, during the twenties. Other researchers have

recorded a peak in volunteering when individuals are in their forties and fifties

(Gallup Organisation, 1987).

Regarding to sex, men are more likely to be volunteers than are women

(Olsen, 1970). Wright and Hyman (1958) and Komarovsky (1946) find that

men are more likely to be volunteers than women in the United States, However,

Gallup Organization (1987) has reported that American women are at least as

likely to volunteer as men. The conflict is resolved when the types of

organization are examined, since women and men consistently belong to

different types of groups. Argyle (1959) and ACTION (1975) report that women

are more likely to join religious or service organization, while men join

professional associations.

34

Perhaps, these demographic studies support the important of interpersonal

ties. For example, cohesive sub-population (e.g. immigrant groups) has denser

interpersonal networks and, therefore, higher rates of volunteering. The low rates

of volunteering among young adults can be explained by their great mobility in

pursuit of their career.

Finally, the relative participation rates in various countries have been a

source of controversy. Rose (1958), relying on national survey data,

observation, and a 'systematic commentary study,' concludes that volunteering is

negligible in France. However, Gallagher (1957) argues that voluntary

organisations in France are numerous but that there are proportionately fewer of

the reform and welfare type when compared to the United States.

Training

Training is important activities in all organization. Newly hired employees need

to be trained to perform their jobs. Existing employees need to acquire new

skills and knowledge. Changes, particularly in technology organizational change,

mean that people and organizations are continually faced with situations that

required new learning. Mullins (1996) says that training can lead to many

potential benefits for both individuals and the organization. It can increase

confidence, motivation and commitment of staff; and give a feeling of personal

satisfaction and achievement.

35

Yet, the research evidence is that many organizations do not understand the

value of using training for strategy ends (Hussey, 1996). The purpose of

training is to help the organization and individuals compete more effectively now

and in their future (Berry, 1990). Bruce and Blackburn (1992) propose that

companies that do provide employees opportunities for growth and development

through training are reaping the benefits. But Grey and Gelfond (1990) unveil

that most employees do not believe their companies are doing enough to attract

high quality performers, train them, or manage them effectively.

The trainability of employees is an important preliminary. Organization

must consider trainees' attitudes and expectation because these can support or

inhibit learning and influence the overall reaction to the training programme

(Noe, 1986).

At the same time, if an organization provides lots of training opportunities,

it is more likely to retain workers because it creates an interesting and

challenging environment; increasing an individual's employability outside the

organization simultaneously increase his job security and, desire to stay with his

current employer.

Volunteers are mostly workers of full-time jobs elsewhere. As Wilson

(1984) says, 'These volunteers are unwilling to tolerate poorly managed, low

quality and ineffective programmes.' They have a smorgasbord of options,

since everyone needs their help, and they tend to go where their time and

contribution is well used and appreciated.. Agencies know this are more open

36

to training than ever before.'

Therefore, the above studies indicate that training provide attraction for

volunteers to stay as well as to prepare them to perform their responsibilities

which can motivate them on the one hand and enhance organisational

effectiveness on the other.

Conclusion

In this chapter, the various motivation theories are reviewed. It is not intended to

mean they are the comprehensive ones, nor is it meant to imply that they are

independent of each other. It is used as a basis to enable large quantity of

information to be better understood.

It is manifest that motivation is a complex phenomenon with many causal

bases and that no one theory to date has been successful in incorporating all of

them. Particularly when they apply to volunteers, it may have a different result.

Deakin (1991) sees voluntary organizations' characteristics determined by a

market orientated approach, as " altruism, amateurism and the absence of overt

political activity, with charitable status and religious affiliation as desirable

extras." Apparently, as the volunteers needs and expectations are different. It

may also be due to the unique characteristics of volunteer work which is

fundamentally different with the works by employees in a formal organization.

In view of that, this study is not to compare the various theories of

37

motivation but tries to apply them to seek what motivates the volunteers in the

AMS.

38

CHAPTER 3 - AMS: ORIGIN, STRUCTURE, AND

OPERATIONS

Origin

During the Second World War, the then Hong Kong Government, for the sake of

the security of the Colony, implemented the Compulsory Services Ordinance

(CSO), Cap 246, Laws of Hong Kong. Under this Ordinance, the then

Government played all five roles to provide the civil defense for the public at

large: namely, producer, owner, provider, regulator and facilitator. All adults

had to join one of the essential service corps and be ready to serve when there

was a need.

After the War, the government, being incapable to maintain large regular

forces for the preparation of disaster, emergencies and civil disturbances, because

of the financial depth, came up the concept of "Public interest partnership" which

brought citizens, government officials and business together to address this

question of general concerns. This arrangement of allowing citizens to

participate in the Government business has recognised the citizens' contribution

in this complex question. For this, this strong measure of strengthening

voluntarism and enhancing the social capital have resulted in building a strong,

stable and better government (Plumptre & Graham, 2000) over the years.

The CSO was suspended and replaced by the Essential Services Corps

39

Ordinance (ESCO), Chapter 197 in 1950. The ESCO became law on 7

December 1949. Henceforth, the conscript system was official abolished. It

was considered, because civil defense is a market failure problem, necessary for

the Governor to raise and maintain a volunteer force of persons who would assist

in the maintenance or the performance of essential services in the territory of

Hong Kong. The ESCO not only applied to the AMS but to all other essential

services corps. It covered the then Auxiliary Fire Service, the Regiment, the

Auxiliary Police Force, the Auxiliary Air Force, and the Civil Aid Service.

AMS was officially established on 22 December 1950. It formerly

attached to the then Medical & Health Department (M&HD) as a division of it.

The change of time in the last several decades has made the life of Hong Kong

more complicated. In the 70s, for the purpose of keeping pace with the

development of the community, the AMS expanded its scopes of services and

diversified its activities such as providing first aid training to civil servants in

various government departments. Hence its scope of services became widened.

In 1983, the AMS separated form the M&HD and became an independent

government department.

Gradually, the Secretary for Security found the ESCO could not give an

umbrella to cover these areas and it was lagging behind time. For it was too

generalised and non-specific for uniformed and, disciplined units, e.g. the Royal

Hong Kong Regiment, the Royal Auxiliary Air Force and the Royal Hong Kong

Auxiliary Police Force. As such, separate legislation was introduced for each of

these units, and ordinances, Chapter 199 and 198 and Chapter 233 respectively

40

came into being. The introduction of such legislations had left the remaining

auxiliary units namely the AMS and Civil Aid Service to continue to rely on the

ESCO legal backing. This was found undesirable, especially the AMS had had

considerable changes and expansions and had accepted more duties and activities

for which proper legal recognition must be allowed.

On 25.9.1986, the AMS put forward a proposed new legislation for the

AMS and Revision of the Essential Services Corps Ordinance (Appendix B). It

delineated that the ESCO was originally designed specially to cater for any

emergency situations in war or peace and not for training for and performance of

medical civic duties of a non-hazardous nature during peaceful time. Therefore,

an ordinance specifically designed and tailor-made for the AMS was required.

Despite the initiative, the proposal was put aside by the Security Branch

and no progressed was made for unknown reasons. After the lapse of a decade,

in 1997, the Principal Assistant Security for Security on 2.12.1996 in a

Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Security in Legislative Council briefed the

panel that the ESCO was too generalised,. Modern day application, a separate

and updated legislation for AMS to reflect its current services and operations was

required (Appendix C).

On 25.3.1997, the Executive Council ordered that the AMS Bill be

introduced into the Legislative Council (Appendix D). As such, after the

publication in the Gazette on 4.4.1997, the Secretary for Security on 9.4.1997

moved the first reading and the second reading of the Bill in LegCo (Appendix

41

E).

On 4.6.1997, the LegCo passed the AMS Ordinance, Chapter

517(Appendix F). The AMSO announced by the Secretary for Security had

come into operation on 13.6.1997 (Appendix G). Going through these

processes, the AMSO was separated from the ESCO and AMS had its separate

legal entity.

Nowadays, the AMS has its establishment and regulations under the AMSO.

It is a corps of professional doctors, nurses and trained volunteer members to

perform tasks to augment the regular medical and health services, such as Health

(DH) Department, the Hospital Authority (HA) and ambulances services of Fire

Services Department (FSD) (AMS Fact sheet, 1998, Appendix H). The primary

purpose of establishing the unit is to tap the manpower of the volunteers in

tackling natural disasters and calamities in times of emergency. The Director of

Health, playing the role as a volunteer, is the ex-officio Commissioner of the

AMS under the Ordinance (AMSO), she serves a dual role as Director of the

Health Department and Commissioner of the AMS in a volunteer capacity. The

Commissioner is, as what Romzek, (2000) classified, hierarchically accountable

to Security Secretary of the Security Bureau.

The AMS has an establishment of 4,418 volunteer members nowadays. It

is commanded by the Commissioner through the AMS headquarters, which is

manned by 98 full-time staff (Appendix I). They mainly perform general

administrative duties such as monitoring the operations and organising training

42

for the volunteers. The Chief Staff Officer of the AMS Headquarters (a full-time

Chief Executive Officer) is responsible for its daily operations. He is also

accountable to the Commissioner. The Volunteers' Organisation Chart is listed

in Appendix J.

Structure of the Organisation

Despite of unique composition of members, the AMS is one of the Government

departments. Its structure without exception consists of a hierarchical

organistional structure. There are:

Operations Wing

Members of Operations Wing are regarded as the skeleton uniformed workforce

responsible for performing all the operational duties of AMS. They will be

mobilized in the manner laid down in AMS Operations Orders.

The Operations Wing is divided into two Wings according to the

distribution of population in order that the day-to-day administration work can be

performed more efficiently (Appendix J). The Operations Wing 1 (OW1) will

include three regions, viz: Hong Kong (HK), Kowloon East (KE) and Kowloon

West (KW). The Operations Wing 2 (OW2) will include two regions, viz: New

Territories East (NTE) and New Territories West (NTW). Each Operations Wing

will be headed by an Assistant Commissioner (AC) rank officers who will be

responsible for the day-to-day administration work of their respective regions.

43

However, to avoid confusion arising from different command sources during

operations / emergencies, the Deputy Commissioner (Ops) will assign one of

these ACs as the field commander of all the regions according to a duty shift

roster. Under the Regions, there are districts. Each district formation will

comprise 4 teams and will be under the supervision of 1 District Commander and

1 Assistant District Commander. The total establishment of a district is 186. In

terms of team mobilization, a single team deployment is designed to be capable

of handling an incident with less than 10 casualties. Teams will take turns to be

on the first call. If there are quite a number of incident sites in one major

emergency (but not more than 100 casualties), the other teams in the same

District will be mobilized at the same time. This arrangement will enable a

self-contained roster system within the District formation in response to local

disasters.

Training and Development Column

The implementation of various centralised training activities are effected through

the Training & Development Column (TDC). Regular training for volunteers

focuses on training of instructors who in turn will conduct sub-unit training at

district level for passing knowledge onto the frontline operatives among AMS

members. The TDC is responsible for recruit training and various centralized

training including foot-drill, casualty evacuation training and nursing care

training conducted by professional nurses in both central and district levels.

The TDC consists of the Development Branch and Training Institute. The

Column is headed by an Assistant Commissioner. He will assist AMS

44

Headquarters staff to conduct training need surveys and develop training

strategies for volunteer members.

a. Development Branch

In view of the rapid global environmental changes, the reinforcement of

modern managerial skills in an organization is of paramount importance to

its success. To cater for this need, the Development Branch is tasked to

conduct Human Resources development and management training in order

to upkeep and modernize the managerial knowledge and skills for AMS

supervisory personnel. The Development Branch is headed by a Branch

Commander and is assisted by an Assistant Branch Commander.

b. Training Institute

Centralized training such as training package design, district instructors

briefing, recruit training and refresher training courses are conducted.

The Training Institute is headed by a Commandant and is by an Assistant

Commandant.

Medical and Paramedic Column

This Column includes 2 branches namely the Emergency Response Task Force

and the Reserve Branch. It will serve as a contingent pool of manpower resource

to reinforce the front-line personnel in different types of emergency situations.

45

a. Emergency Response Task Force (ERTF) Branch

ERTF is responsible for providing triage and paramedic service at the scene

of emergency sites. Members will work hand in hand with the Emergency

Medical Teams of the Hospital Authority and also work with AMS

members from different districts. In addition, ERTF is responsible for

providing assistance to the Accident & Emergency Department of hospitals

that are affected by the sudden influx of a large number of disaster

casualties. During normal time, ERTF officers would be responsible for

conducting Disaster Medical Assistants training for AMS members.

b. Reserve Branch

On the occasion of a major disaster, AMS may be called upon to set up

temporary centers for accommodating convalescent patients on a prolonged

basis. For such contingency, the Reserve Branch is designed to enlist a

pool of experts who come from different disciplines of healthcare. Those

professionals who preferred not to be actively involved in day-to-day

operations such as experienced doctors, nurses, radiographers, pharmacists;

physiotherapists are grouped in this Branch. In times of emergency, (for

example, the need to set up of a temporary field hospital), they will be

mobilized to support the Service. Members of this Branch will only be

called out on the occasion of full emergency and will not be required to

fulfill the minimum training requirement and they will not be involved in

46

the daily operational routines during normal situations.

Logistics and Support Column

This Column plays a major supporting role in the Service. Members in this

Column will provide various kinds of back-up services to the operational

frontline personnel; such back-up is vital and crucial to the continuous provision

of high quality operational services to the public. There are two branches in

this Column namely Logistics Branch and Support Branch.

a. Logistics Branch

This is established to provide the technical know-how logistics and

improvement of quality of services of AMS. It includes the Communication

& Information Technology Division, the Public Relations & Education

Division and the Service Quality Division.

b. Support Branch

This branch consists of the Band Division, the Transport Division and the

Welfare Division. Its main functions are for support purposes in terms of

members' morale (from the staff welfare aspects) and other operational

support (through a pool of drivers).

47

Operations of the AMS

The AMSO has authorized the AMS to perform the following functions (Section

4, AMSO):

a) on the occasion of an emergency, to assist in -

i) the regular medical and health service;

ii) the ambulance and other rescue services;

b) at the discretion of the Chief Executive, to perform such other

functions as may be commensurate with the training of members, and on

such occasions, as he may order; and

c) at the discretion of the Commissioner, to provide such other services of

a non-emergency nature for the general benefit of the community as he

may direct.

With the assistance of the LLA Pacific Limited, a consultant, AMS has

adjusted and established its long-term vision and missions in 1996:

Vision: To be a premier voluntary supplementary medical and health services

provider.

Mission: Provide resources to augment the regular medical and health services to

maintain the care and well-being of the people of Hong Kong in the most

efficient and effective manner through a well-trained, professional and

committed volunteer force.

Through the years, the development of the AMS has embarked on different

activities, the key works undertaken by AMS are:

(a) Emergency Services;

48

(b) Regular Services; and

(c) Training of AMS volunteer members.

Emergency Services

In order to respond efficiently and effectively to emergency calls and requests,

the Government has formulated specific contingency plans for natural disasters

and calamities. As soon as emergency requests are received from either FSD,

HA or DH, AMS will mobilize the volunteers to provide the following

emergency services:

(a) Operating emergency medical centers; such as deploying nurses and

members to man a clinic at the quarantine camps at the Sai Kung Outdoor

Recreation Camp, Lei Yu Mun Recreation Camp for those residents of

Amoy Gardens.

(b) Providing on-site medical and paramedic services: such as deploying

members stationed at the Amoy Gardens to provide services of counseling,

body temperature measurement, distribution of facial masks etc.

(c) Reinforcing ambulance depots, hospitals and clinics with personnel

and emergency supplies: incidents such as the Garry Building Fire, AMS

ambulances and personal re-enforced the FSD, HA.

(d) Operating dressing stations and convalescent units at appropriate

locations: dressing station will set up whenever typhoon no. 8 is hoisted.

(e) Manning of clinics in detention centres e.g. Vietnamese Boat People'

camps and quarantine camps.

49

Regular Services

In addition to the emergency services, AMS also provides the following regular

services to the community:

(a) Manning of methadone clinics: AMS deploys trained volunteer

members to man the methadone clinics of the DH. They perform the

administrative work, distribution of drug and accounting.

(b) First-aid coverage for public functions: In cooperation with other

government departments, AMS provides first-aid coverage for public

events such as the Fireworks Displays, the New Year's Eve Count-down

Carnivals and the Community Chest Walk for Millions. AMS also

provides first-aid coverage for public requests from non-profit making

organizations.

(c) Non-emergency ambulance transfer service: AMS provides

non-emergency ambulance transfer service to patients of the DH and

private hospitals. The Hospital Authority will provide ambulances to

convey its own patients among its hospitals, AMS will convey patients of

government clinics for specialist follow-up treatment.

(d) First-aid and ambulance services in country parks: AMS mans

first-aid posts in country parks established at designated points by the

Agricultural, Fisheries and Conservation Department

(e) Life-saving service: To provide life-saving service during weekends

and holidays in the summer months at different gazetted beaches.

50

(f) First-aid training: AMS provides first-aid talks upon requests from

non-profit making organizations and schools. It also organizes basic

courses in first aid and resuscitation for civil servants.

Training of AMS Volunteer members

If an organization provides lots of training opportunities, it js more likely to

retain workers because it creates an interesting and challenging environment, and

it can increase confidence, motivation and commitment of them, giving them a

feeling of personal satisfaction and achievement (Buckly, 1992). To this ends,

the AMS now is providing the following 3 types of training-

a) Recruit training: It is a basic requirement. All recruits other than

medical professionals (e.g. doctors and nurses) are required to undergo the recruit

training. They are trained with the prerequisite know-how, such as first aid, the

AMS Ordinance, operational orders, radio telephone procedure, casualty

evacuations the use of resuscitation equipment and squad drills etc. Training

days are held on Sunday mornings and weekday evenings. Other than these

in-service provided contents, speakers from the ICAC would give lectures on the

'prevention of Bribery Ordinance'; nurses from the Hospital Authority would be

invited to brief on the concept and skills of Disaster Medicine. The course lasts

a total of 120 hours of training. At the end of the course, volunteers have to

take the end-of-the course examination. Those successful volunteers will be

posted to various team in different districts where they will have further training.

The successful number of AMS recruit members in the year 1999/00, 2000/01,

2001/02, 2002/03 are 478, 494, 208 and 522 respectively.

51

b) Regular team training: after the recruit training, a volunteer will be

posted to a team of a district. It is a regular meeting in which volunteer will

have the advanced training materials. The meetings will be held on two Sunday

mornings and one evening monthly basis. Through these meetings, AMS HQ

reinforces its volunteer members' latest knowledge and skills in various related

aspects through this training volunteers can enhance their proficiency. For

example, recently, the Disaster Medical Assistant Training Programme

prescribed in the three-year training curriculum has been designed to equip the

volunteers with the state-of-the-art knowledge (AMS Standing Order No.41).

Individual members allocated in different teams in Operations Wing have to take

this nature of training. Annually, all members (other than the medical

professional) have to take the proficiency examination. Should a volunteer

fails in the examination, he will be immediately suspended from duties and

should he fails again the succeeding year, his membership will be liable to be

terminated (AMS Standing Order, No. 41). Furthermore, to ensure that the

volunteer members are up-keeping their operational efficiency, a mandatory

efficiency requirement is stipulated in Section 10 of the AMS Regulation

(AMSR). Under this section, volunteer members, in addition to their

performance of duties, they have to attend a minimum of 60 hours of training in

the regular team training annually in order to comply with the efficiency

requirement, unless the Commissioner exempts otherwise. In the last four years,

there were 4,593, 4,420, 4,068 and AMS volunteers attended the training

respectively {Estimates for the year Ending March 2001-2003 (Volume 1 A)}

On completion of the basic training, further or more advance general regular

52

sub-unit training will be provided to each and every member. Centralized

training related to casualty handling, nursing, life-saving, and practical sessions

at hospital wards, Accident and Emergency Departments are available to

members. Members are also provided with training in the field of leadership,

supervisory techniques and management. A newly developed programme on

Disaster Medicine which aims to quality all members at Disaster Medical

Assistant level is being introduced with a three-year plan of implementation

throughout the training curriculum.

Remuneration of AMS Volunteer Members

AMS members are remunerated with pay & allowances in accordance with the

Auxiliary Forces Pay and Allowances Ordinance (AFPAO). Under the

Ordinance, volunteer members are eligible for pay and allowances only when

they have been called out to provide emergency, regular services or when they

have undergone training arranged by AMS. In normal circumstances, pay and

allowances are calculated in hourly rates or daily rates fixed by the Finance

Committee of the Legislative Council (Appendix K, for prevailing AMS Pay

Code and Rates of Pay).

The Turnover of volunteers in the AMS (Including involuntary turnover)

Ever since the inception of the AMS in 1950, the AMS had the

establishment of 5,835 (AMS, VI/02). Through the years, the strength of the

AMS was in the vicinity of 4,400 (AMS, Vl/02). The Service could not fill all

53

the vacancies despite a lot of measures had been taken to recruit more members

(AMS, V5/03). These included to promote the publicity by going to vocational

schools to give recruitment talks, to take part in recruitment campaign held by

the Labour Department, to advertise on the television. These did not help much

to fill the gap of vacancies. This status quo had been maintained until 1993.

In the year, with a view to promoting efficiency and budget economy, the

Secretary for Security deployed a consultant to study the feasibility of the

amalgamation of the AMS and Civil Aid Service (AMS Vl/02). After two

months' study, the report turned down the proposal of the amalgamation, but it

recommended that the AMS be reduced its establishment by 10 % from 5,835 to

5,258 so as to truly reflect its actual strength

Since 1993, AMS has undergone no major structural reform. But the

under-strength has not been improved. Despite in 1996, the Human Resources

Management Consultancy Project Report, initiated by the AMS opined that: "the

key strategic issue facing AMS is the continuing recruitment and retention of a

volunteer force that can meet AMS's obligations for both emergency response

and regular services," and recommended a series of programme to improve the

situation. However, not much progress has been made. In mid-2000 the Audit

Commission conducted a value-for-money audit of AMS and the Director of

Audit in his Report No. 35 (Audit Commission, 2000) that the AMS, inter alia,

was expected to critically examined in its establishment review whether it was

provided with resources surplus to its requirement.

In response to such criticism, an Establishment and Structural Review

54

Committee (the ESRC) was formed to conduct the above-mentioned review.

The committee proposed that the total establishment of the service be reduced by

about 16% from 5,258 to 4,418 (ESRC Report, 2001). This figure of 4,418 has

been derived from the management's decision to delete some vacancies, which

would not be filled in the near foreseeable future. The committee considered that

since the last establishment review in 1993, the actual strength of AMS had

always been maintained between 85-90% of the total establishment. For example,

the strength in 1998 was 4,650, 1999 was 4,593 and 2000 was 4,420. Based on

the past experiences, the senior management of AMS considered that the

proposed establishment which was also by existing level of strength should be

able to cope with the various operational needs and demand of services. The

reduction in establishment was mainly be achieved by re-engineering the

Operations Wing and abolition of the Hospital Wing. The professionals from the

Hospital Wings were re-deployed to the operational branches to enhance their

professionalism and operational efficiency of the operational units.

Since the year 1990, as far as the turnover of the volunteers in the AMS is

concerned the highest turnover number of volunteers is 900 in 1997 (Table 3.1).

The reason for such high dropout was mainly due to the introduction of the

AMSO in which it mandatory required all the members who attained the year of

60 of age had to retire. Other than that, the highest figure is 667 in 2002 and the

lowest is 373 in 1992. It is prima facie that the dropout rates are 15% and 8.3 %

of the strength respectively. The average turnover of all the year is 12 %.

Certainly, they left the Service for various reasons, they might be due to family

affairs, unsatisfactory of the Service, etc. Apart from that, the vacancies were

55

not fully filled for many years. The highest one is 1,535, which is 26 % of the

establishment. The AMS could not recruit the people to join the Service. This

figure of establishment did not reflect the actual requirement of the Service,

therefore it attracted a series of criticism demanding the reduction of the figure.

Table 3.1

Percentage of Wastage of volunteer from 1990 to 2002, AMS

Year

(Financial

year)

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

Wastage

601

350

373

431

418

494

473

900*

508

535

667

560

550

Wastage

in%

13.9%

8.1 %

8.3 %

9.1 %

8.7 %

10.4%

9.9 %

19.3 %

10.9%

11.6%

15%

14%

14%

Strength

4300

4315

4495

4713

4801

4772

4770

4665

4650

4593

4420

4068

4040

Establishment

5835

5835

5835

5258

5258

5258

5258

5258

5258

5258

5258

5258

4418

Vacancies

1535

1520

1340

545

457

486

488

593

608

665

838

1190

378

% of the

Establis­

hment

26.30677

26.0497

22.96487

10.36516

8.691518

9.243058

9.281095

11.27805

11.56333

12.64739

15.93762

22.63218

8.555908

*It was mainly due to the introduction of the compulsory retirement age of 60,

which took effect with the enactment of the Auxiliary Medical Service Ordinance

in 1997.

Source: Data are collected from the Membership Section of the AMS

56

The cost of turnover of volunteer membership

It is evident that the AMS turnover rate is around 12 % of the strength. A new

member recruited has to undergo the 120-hour recruitment training. This

training to provide them with the requisite know-how so that he can facilitate

him to carry out the task with sufficient proficiency. This unformed standard

can guarantee the service provided can up to the acceptable level. Thus except

the medical professionals, all members have to take the recruitment training.

The year dropout for example in 2002 is 550. The cost of a recruit will be

calculated as Table 3.2:

Table 3.2

The total cost of enrolling a member

Items

Recruitment Training

Uniform

Recruitment Interview and Process

byHQ

Recruitment training (including

accommodation, instructors,

training aids)

Total of a member

cost

120 hours (total training hours of

recruitment training) x $30.5*

(hourly rate of pay)=$3,660

$1,500

$100

$3,125

$8,385

Source: AMS T3/01

• Pay and Allowances, AFPAO, Cap. 254 (Appendix K)

57

The cost of enrolling a member is approximately $8,383. Taking our last

year's turnover as the example, it cost about 4.6 million dollars ($8,385 x 550)

which will be about 7.7 % of total expenses of the AMS (AMS F3/05). It is

manifest that the cost of turnover carries a significant impact. The quality of

services can be improved if the fund can be reinvested on other aspect of

services.

Minimum Training Attendance Requirement

For the purpose of maintaining the members' proficiency in operations, members

are required to satisfy the efficiency requirement. Under section 30, of the

AMSR, unless the Commissioner directs otherwise, volunteer members in the

Operations Wing who perform the bulk of the regular services have to attend a

minimum of sixty hours of training each year. The AMS Standing Order (SO)

No. 41 - Training Policy stipulates that individual teams officers are required to

report quarterly in writing to the AMS HQ of the training attendance of its

members. A member who fails to comply with the AMSR' requirement, the

Commissioner may impose on him one or more of the following disciplinary

action:

a. a reduction in rank

b. a caution, warning, reprimand or severe reprimand; and

c. a fine not exceeding $500

In order to standardise the procedure, the following course of disciplinary

58

action will be taken (AMS SO No. 41):

a. A first warning will be issued to the volunteer member if he fails to

attain the required minimum training attendance rate in the first quarter;

b. A final warning will be issued to the volunteer member if he still fails

to attend the required minimum training attendance rate in the succeeding

two consecutive quarters; and

c. The volunteer member will be discharged without going through any

disciplinary proceeding if he fails to reply within fourteen days in writing

with reasonable excuse of not attending the training.

In the Auditor's Report No. 35, the Commissioner, in a bid to ascertaining

the extent to which the volunteer members complied with the Standing Order's

training attendance requirement, reportted an analysis of the training records of

550 volunteer members on stratified random basis in the Operations Wing and

the Logistic Wing for the period 1997 to 2000. The analysis revealed that 41.5

%, 34.4 % and 38.4 % of the volunteer members of the target group failed to

comply with the Standing Order requirement in 1997/98, 1998/99 and 1999/2000

respectively (Auditor Report No.35).

59

Table 3.3

AMS Percentage of Volunteer Member

who did not comply AMS SO, 1997-2000

Year

1997/98

1998/99

1999/2000

No. of volunteer

members selected

for analysis

500

500

500

No. of members who did

not comply with the SO

228

189

211

Percentage

41.5%

34.4 %

38.4 %

Source: Auditor Report No. 35

Among those members, who failed to comply the Order, had only attended

51%, 46% and 44% of the required training hours in 1997/98, 1998/99 and

1999/2000 respectively.

Table 3.4

Analysis of the Actual Attendance of AMS Volunteer Members who did not

comply with the Standing Order's requirement

Year

1997/98

1998/99

1999/2000

No. of hours of

attendance

required

60

60

60

Average hours of

attendance

30.6

27.6

26.94

Percentage of

attendance

5 1 %

4 6 %

44.9 %

Source: Auditor's Report No. 35

60

According to the Standing Order (AMS Standing Order No.41), disciplinary

action should be taken against those failed to acquire the minimum attendance

efficiency without reasonable excuse. Nevertheless, AMS did not take any

action on 81%, 69% and 70% of the members who failed to comply with the

Order's requirement in 1997/98, 1998/99 and 1999/00 respectively.

Conclusion

From its origin as a compulsory service corps during the Second World War,

AMS has changed to a voluntary organization to date. Being a civil defense

organization, the AMS is mainly chartered to augment the medical related tasks.

Hence, its main function is to assist the DH, HA and the ambulances of FSD. It

has its own members. They are recruited from different walks of life and their

joining is on a voluntary basis. Though the changes of time, the AMS has

expanded its services from an emergency-oriented organization performing

duties on the occasions of disaster, emergencies or civil disturbances, to an

organization of providing non-emergency services, such as first aid coverage,

Methadone Treatment Programme and non-emergency patient transfer services.

Because of the nature of the membership, AMS has to maintain its

members' proficiency so as to upkeep its quality of services. The constant

provision of different aspects of training is to ensure the development of the

organization not to lag behind the time. In line with this strategy, the AMS has

adopted the efficiency requirement which demands members of the Service to

61

attend the statutory hours of training.

The AMS is now as other voluntary organisations facing the problem of

shortage and high turnover of members. The vacancies have never been fully

filled. Coupled with that is the turnover rate maintaining 12 % of the strength

over the past 10 years. The difficulties have not been alleviated despite a

variety of efforts have been made, including publicity and recruitment

campaigns.

Understandably, human resource is a valuable and indispensable asset for an

organization. The long shortage of members will impede the development of

the Service and so much the worst to maintain its survival. What is the crux of

the problem? Why can the Service not attract the citizens to join? How can the

Service keep the turnover rate down? These are the questions which the Service

need to address and the ensuing Chapter 4 will try to get some insights from the

research.

62

CHAPTER 4 - MEMBERS' SURVEY - FINDINGS AND

ANALYSIS

Introduction

As outline in the chapter 2, motivational theories have explained the different

behaviours of individuals in an organisation. The systematic approach in the

review from the general to specific behavoural theories has narrated one's

satisfaction and dissatisfaction on different accounts. In order to search for

some insight from the concept of members' motivational feelings, survey

supplemented by interviews, inter alia, can shine a light on this murkier corner.

The findings in the studies as delineated are the cornerstones for this survey.

Based on that findings or theories, questions are designed to extract members'

feelings and disposition and thereafter to make comments. A 13-item,

self-completed questionnaire is arranged in three sections and developed. They

collect data on three categories of information: personal profile, job satisfaction

and training satisfaction (Appendix L).

For the sake of getting genuine information, the questionnaire contains no

requests for personal identifying information such as the subject's name but only

ask them about the environment and their attitudes toward different factors.

Most questions provide a list of answer choices to the subjects and the subjects

indicate their choice by ticking the appropriate box. Through this survey, it was

hoped that feelings could be obtained from the respondents.

63

Respondent Profile

The Section I of the questionnaires is designed to include the demographic

details of the respondents such as their sex, age, education, marital status,

occupations, position in the AMS, year of service and length of service in the

current position. The findings and analysis are made in corresponding sequence

of the questions set out in the questionnaire.

Gender

Table 4.1

Sex Distribution

Male

Female

Total

Number of respondents

218

200

418

Percentage of total

52

48

100

From the data, it can be seen that the percentage of the respondents' sex is quite

close. This is a reflection of the almost even distribution of males and females

of the members. The total numbers of male and female members of the AMS

were 2260 and 1823 respectively as at 1.4.2003.

Despite a finding in Literature Review claiming that men are more likely to

be volunteers than are women (Olsen, 1965), the AMS has nevertheless an equal

sex distribution. Men and women's enthusiasm in participating in the AMS

activities can be seen as the same. This may be explained by the fact that most

64

of females may prefer to perform the work of taking care of others. The main

role of the AMS is to augment the DH, HA and FSD's ambulance services. The

AMS work features the altruistic contribution, and it is quite different from the

other auxiliary service such as Auxiliary Police and Civil Aid Service. It is a

socialization pattern in Hong Kong, which can be discovered in nursing

professions.

Age

Table 4.2

Age Distribution

* 16-20

21-25

26-30

31-35

36-40

41-45

46-50

51-55

56-60*

No. of Respondents

65

74

73

33

46

51

41

29

6

418

Percentage

15.6

17.7

17.5

7.9

11.0

12.2

9.8

6.9

1.4

100.0

T h e minimum age requirement of joining the AMS is 16 (Section 10, AMSO)

and the mandatory retirement age is 60 (Section 5, AMSR)

As stated in the Literature Review, the relationship between age and volunteering

is complex: volunteering among teenagers increases until about 18 years, then

decreases, remaining low until the late twenties, when it rises, reaching a peak

65

from age 40 to 55, from which it gradually decrease. It can be seen that about

50.8% of the respondents are between 16-30 years old. Then, the percentage is

in descending order and the range from 36 to 45 has a total of 23 % of the

respondents. Although these findings are not the same as the other studies, it

has a more or less similar pattern of age distribution in the AMS with the other

volunteer organisations. Referring to the 12% annual turnover rate and in the

context of its gradual dropping-out, it can be seen the succession problem will

not be imminent and the predominant 'young' members will solve the succession

plan.

Educational qualification

Table 4.3

Education Qualification

Secondary

Matriculation

University Graduate

Postgraduate

Professional

Others

No. of Respondents

287

45

42

10

22

7

413*

Percentage

69.5

10.9

10.2

2.4

5.3

1.7

100

* 5 cases are unfilled

In Chapter 2, the studies state that those with higher income, educational level,

and occupational status are more likely to volunteering, the AMS is not

commensurate with these findings. The 69 % of the respondents are only

66

secondary school level. Perhaps it can be explained by the minimum entry

requirement, as the AMS only required its members to have form 3 academic

standard. Apart from them, some of them are high diploma, vocational

council's course and Institute of Vocational Education course in the 'others'

column.

Surprisingly, the other two majorities, 20%, matriculation and University

Graduate and the 5.3% of professionals make up the total of 25.3% of the

respondents. This may be due to the fact that more people in Hong Kong have a

better chance to procure better education. This high flier can be vested with

more responsibilities, development, job enlargement and enrichment. Which

can provide a drive for them to actualize their own goals.

Marital Status

Table 4.4

Marital Status

Single

Married (with children)

Married (without children)

No. of Respondents

229

152

27

408*

Percentage

56.1

37.3

6.6

100.0

* 10 cases are unfilled

There is a close distribution of single (56.1%) and married officers (43.9%).

Referring to those 'married (with children)' members; it is very strange that it

comprises 37.3 % of the total. The prevalent concept, that parents have to take

care of their children, they cannot spare their time to take part in volunteer job,

67

does not stand in the AMS. This strange phenomenon may be explained by

several reasons. The first explanation may be that they have good social

relationship among members in the AMS and therefore choose to remain in the

AMS even after marriage. In the AMS, there are almost equal numbers of

respondents of both sexes (Table 4.1). As such, another explanation may be that

the existing trying economic situation and the high unemployment rate in Hong

Kong, 8.3%, more family wives have to take a voluntary job for some pay and

allowances especially on account of the nature of the light duty job. Lastly, it

may be due to the feet, that half of the composition of respondents is female, and

a majority of them are housewives with children. It may be concluded that at

least one fourth of the respondents are housewives with children.

Occupation other than being a member of the AMS

Table 4.5

Occupation other than the AMS

Medical Professional (Doctor)

Medical Professional (e.g.

Nurse, physiotherapy)

Administrator (Executive /

Clerk) private sector

Administrator (Executive /

Clerk) public sector

Other Professional (e.g.

Lawyer, Engineer)

Service Provider (e.g. waiter)

Technician

No. of Respondents

0

13

65

50

19

22

41

Percentage

0

3.2

16.1

12.4

4.7

5.4

10.1

68

Housewife/househusband

Student

Unemployment

Others

25

55

36

78

404*

6.2

13.6

8.9

19.3

100.0

* 14 cases are unfilled

There are different professions in the 'others' these include merchants, retired

civil servants, teachers, research assistant, reporters, free-lance writers,

self-employed, drivers, factory workers, drainage workers etc.

It is quite natural that the Medical professional such as doctors and nurses

cannot free themselves to regularly participate in the volunteer activities, for they

have to perform shift duties and the private practitioners have to be in

consultation long hours in their clinics. Therefore the low turn-up rate and low

percentage in the membership can be anticipated.

It is quite astonishing to learn that the administrators in private sector have a

greater proportion. The myth in Hong Kong, that the civil servants are keen to

join voluntary organisations for they can be easily released from the offices to

perform volunteer duty but in the AMS, is proved unfounded in the AMS.

Another discovery is that the percentage of students in the membership is quite

high. This may be explained that presently high unemployment in this summer

time may cause the students to find a temporary job or to kill their time. The

unemployed also occupies 8.9%. This high unemployment rate can also reflect

the people who would like to find something occupied their time or to earn some

69

money for themselves.

Length of service

Table 4.6

Length of Service

Less than 1 year

1-3 year

4-6 year

7-9 year

10-12 year

13-15 year

16-18 year

19-21 year

22-24 year

25-27 year

28-30 year

31-33 year

34-36 year

37-39 year

No. of Respondents

49

110

37

32

33

10

8

26

19

18

31

17

4

4

398*

Percentage

12.3

27.6

9.3

8.0

8.3

2.5

2.0

6.5

4.8

4.5

7.8

4.3

1.0

1.0

100.0

* 20 cases are unfilled

It is a typical phenomenon that the people cannot serve long in a volunteer work.

The majority of the respondents are 1 to 3 years of service. Furthermore, less

than 1 year of service is 12 %. That is to say about 50% of the respondents

have been associated with the AMS less than 6 years. Coupled with the young

age of the membership, AMS has a group of young people to serve the

community.

70

Position in the AMS

Table 4.7

Position in the AMS

Member (ADII/ANII)

Non-commissioned Officer

(AD/AN I or SAD/SAN)

Junior Officer (ASupr. /Supr.)

Senior Officer (DC/DO/ADC/ADO)

Commanding Officer (ABC and

above)

No. of Respondents

242

125

38

11

2

418

Percentage

57.9

29.9

9.1

2.6

0.5

100.0

Remark:

AD/AN= Auxiliary Dresser/Auxiliary Nurse

SAD/SAN= Senior Auxiliary Dresser/Senior Auxiliary Nurse

ASupr/Supr.= Assistant Supervisor/Supervisor

DC/DO/ADC/ADO= District Commander/Divisional Officer/Assistant

District Commander/Assistant Divisional Officer

ABC= Assistant Branch Commander

A majority of the respondents have served the AMS less than 6 years, therefore,

their positions in the hierarchy of the AMS are confined to ordinary members.

71

The more years they have served in the AMS, the better chance they have to

climb the higher rungs of the ladder.

Length of current position

Table 4.8

Length of current position

Less than 1 year

1-3 year

4-6 year

7-9 year

10-12 year

13-15 year

16-18 year

19-21 year

22-24 year

25-27 year

28-30 year

31-33 year

No. of Respondents

196

172

14

16

0

4

4

0

8

2

0

2

418

Percentage

46.9

41.1

3.3

3.8

0.0

1.0

1.0

0.0

1.9

0.5

0.0

0.5

100.0

The majority of the respondents are having less than one year of holding the

current position. Together with the respondents who have 1 -3 year of service it

makes up to 90 % of the total respondents. This is quite natural for the AMS, as

the AMS has recruitment almost 550 new members so as to fill the dropouts

every year. Judging from these figures, it can assume that most members

holding a rank will get promotion less than 9 years. The promotion prospect is

72

quite high if it is compared with the regular job.

Factors influencing respondents to join the AMS

Table 4.9

Main factors influencing to join the AMS

Family members

Friends

Relatives

Your regular job's associates

Advertisement

Others

Frequency

85

253

34

57

66

60

555

Percentage

15.3

45.6

6.1

10.3

11.9

10.8

100.0

From the table, we know that those with more extensive personal contacts are

more likely to be recruited. It is evident that a friend's influence is more

effective than the advertisement. There are 253 of frequencies chose friend's

influence as the factor to cause them to join the AMS. This constitutes 45.6 %

of the total responses. In addition, there are also 15.3 % of the responses chose

'family members' to influence them to be a member of the AMS. These two

factors make up to 60.9 % of the total responses. This implies that the family

members and friends persuasions and example settings are very important to

influence the others to join the AMS. As respondents are allowed to choose at

most three answers from the question, it can be seen that respondents may be

influenced by up to three factors. The combinations of them may be the causes of

their joining. Although there are also different factors in the 'Others' column,

73

these include wishing to have a British passport (sated by the respondent that one

of the requirements is to join one volunteer organisation), school activities, and

school teachers' influence, the respondents' choices are only about 11 % of the

total.

The evidence is strong consistent with the propositions in the Literature

Review that most volunteers are recruited by their friends, relatives, or

associates.

Job Satisfaction

Members' main expectation when you joined the AMS

Table 4.10

Main Expectations

To serve the community/to

serve others

To learn First Aid/medical

knowledge

For pay and allowances

For leisure activity

To making more friends

And or others:

Frequency

363

386

93

43

185

9

716

Percentage

33.6

35.8

8.6

4.0

17.1

0.8

100.0

74

As outlined in the studies that an organisation needs to know how to

motivate people to join the organisation; to stay; to contribute performance for an

organisation, this question is set to know what were their expectations when they

joined the AMS.

There seems that the ideology of 'altruism' is quite prevalent in the

AMS. There were 33.6 % of the respondents chose to 'to serve the community /

to serve others' as their main expectation to join the AMS. In addition, there

were 35.8 % of the respondents chose ' to learn First Aid / Medical knowledge'

as their motives. As most of the volunteers were not medical professionals

(Table 4.5), it is evident that most of them have the expectation to learn first aid

or medical knowledge when they joined the AMS. This shows that up to 79.4%

majority of the members, when they joined the AMS, have the motives to learn

first aid medical knowledge as well as to serve the community through the

training they would have in the AMS. Concurrently, to make friends with the

others is also a crucial factor to attract them to join.

It is prima facie that the three factors: namely, adequate provision of

training opportunities to serve the community and to have a better social

environment, are vital to attract and retain the members. Quite naturally, there

are 8.6 % of them wishing to have pay and allowances when they joined. Their

'pro-social' acts designed to produce and maintain the well-being of others

without restriction in other kinds of potential 'payoffs' for them appeared in the

AMS. Although the concept of Time Dollars does not exist in Hong Kong

environment, this outcome can be an indication for the future consideration in the

AMS.

75

Achievement of members' expectations since they joined the AMS

Table 4.11

Achievement of expectations

Completely achieved

Mostly Achieved

Partly Achieved

Cannot Achieved

Frequency

38

254

119

4

415*

Percentage

9.2

61.1

28.7

1.0

100.0

* 3 cases are unfilled

Vroom's Expectancy theory states that individual decision to exert effort will

depend upon three perceptions about the effort receiving situation. First, there are

available rewards for successful performance resulting from effort to be

expanded and that these rewards have attractiveness for the individual; second,

the successful performance as a result of expanding effort will in fact bring forth

the rewards; third, the expenditure of effort will result in successful performance.

Moreover, successful performance also depends on the skills and abilities of the

individual and their perception. It is very important to know whether the

members' expectations when they joined the AMS have been achieved.

There are 61% of respondents showing they have mostly achieved what

they expected when they joined the AMS. Together with those chosen

'completely achieved,' it can represent 70.3 % of the respondents are either

mostly or completely satisfied with what they have achieved. Nevertheless,

76

there are 29.7 % of them chosen 'partly achieved' and 'cannot achieved.'

Regarding to their reasons to choose such answers, most of the respondents

are satisfied with what they achieved. They claimed that they had learned what

they wanted, they could assist those people in need, although they did not know

each other, they could acquire first aid and medical knowledge, making a good

deal of friends, a sense of satisfaction. They could do something, which could

not be done as an ordinary citizen.

While those who are dissatisfied with their achievements claimed that the

training were inadequate, the training time was not enough, the limited resources

of the AMS, the duty opportunities were insufficient, and too red-taped.

This contraction of the responses, despite not being at the two extreme of

the continuum, is a little surprising. As all the members have to go through the

recruitment training, they have received the similar materials in the training.

Perhaps, the majority of the respondents are not medical professional (Table 4.5)

and the years of services are quite short (Table 4.6), they could achieve what they

expected when they got the basic training (e.g. first aid) and had the chance to

perform operational duties.

Whilst a minority of them having served a certain period of time, they

wanted more than what they had procured. Of all the reasons, no indication is

made that they cannot achieve the purpose of serving the community and making

friends. Certainly, the respondents may not openly propose that they could not

77

get enough of pay because of the nature of the organisation, the training

inadequacy and insufficient duty opportunities may underline the meaning of

inadequacy of pay which they could not completely achieved. But the

expectation of getting pay when joining the AMS is only a minority of them

(Table 4.10).

Judging from the answers, it seems members are quite satisfied with what

they have achieved and their expectations are fulfilled generally.

Job factors accounting for satisfaction in the AMS

In this question, respondents were asked to rate their feelings about their job in

the AMS within a range from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The

respondents were requested to tick to indicate to 'agree' or 'disagree' with the

statement, the respondents endorsing one of the statement either 'agree' or

'strongly agree' were considered to generally agreed with the statement, they

would be grouped together as the 'agreed' group. Those endorsing the 'disagree'

or strongly 'disagree' were considered to generally disagree with the statement

and they would be grouped as 'disagreed' group. Then, the 'disagrees' and

'agrees" will be compared, the percentage can show the feelings of the

respondents.

In order to make the questionnaire trustworthy and not force the respondents

to take a choice either disagree or agree, a choice 'neither disagree nor agree' is

given. Those who take the 'neither agree nor disagree' were considered to have

78

no opinion and give up their choices. Therefore, they would not be count and

treated as non-respondents.

Table 4.12

Job factors accounting for satisfaction

I find the AMS provides equal

treatment to every member

I am satisfied with the work I

do in the AMS, because I

have a sense of achievement

in my work

I satisfied with the work I do

in the AMS, because I have

got high recognition of my

work

I am satisfied with the work I

do in the AMS, because I

have been given important

responsibility

I am satisfied with the work I

do in the AMS, because I can

get good pay and allowance to

subsidise my daily expenses

Disagree

Frequency

131

36

62

66

135

Percentage

47.8

11.5

26.1

28.6

47.4

Agree

Frequency

143

276

176

165

150

Percentage

52.2

88.5

73.9

71.4

52.6

79

I am satisfied with the work I

do in the AMS, because I

have good relationship with

my peer members

I am satisfied with the work I

do in the AMS, because the

working location is excellent

(such as place of team

training, duty locations etc.)

I am satisfied with the work I

do in the AMS, because I will

not be arbitrarily terminated

of my membership

21

69

77

5.9

27.9

28.4

335

178

194

94.1

72.1

71.6

Table 4.13

Comparison between 'responded' and 'non-responded'

I find the AMS provides equal

treatment to every member

I am satisfied with the work I

do in the AMS, because I

have a sense of achievement

in my work

Disagree

131

36

Agree

143

276

Neither

Agree nor

Agree

144

106

Total

418

418

80

I satisfied with the work I do

in the AMS, because I have

got high recognition of my

work

I am satisfied with the work I

do in the AMS, because I

have been given important

responsibility

I am satisfied with the work I

do in the AMS, because I can

get good pay and allowance to

subsidise my daily expenses

I am satisfied with the work I

do in the AMS, because I

have good relationship with

my peer members

I am satisfied with the work I

do in the AMS, because the

working location is excellent

(such as place of team

training, duty locations etc.)

I am satisfied with the work I

do in the AMS, because I will

not be arbitrarily terminated

of my membership

62

66

135

21

69

77

176

165

150

335

178

194

180

187

133

62

171

147

418

418

418

418

418

418

Adam (1965) claims that people place weighting on those various inputs and

outcomes according to how they perceive their importance. When the ratio of a

81

person's total outcomes to total inputs equals the perceived ratio of other people's

total outcomes to total inputs there is equity. Surprising there is 47.8 % of the

respondents disagreed the statement: 'I find the AMS provides equal treatment to

every member' and 52.2 % agreed with this statement. The percentage

response of the generally dissatisfied members falls marginally under 50% and

the range between these two figures is not great and it does not represent a truly

clear-cut majority of generally satisfied and generally dissatisfied individuals.

It is very clear that almost half of the respondents were satisfied with the

treatment by the AMS.

Although in the questionnaire elaborated points were not provided, they

were revealed in the interviews. The respondents claimed that the most

important aspects of first line supervision from the member's point of view

centred on the supervisor's willingness to be fair in dealing with members. The

need for the team officer to act efficiently as an information link between

members and the management, and in particular to discharge their role as part of

the grievance handling procedure was felt to be an important dimension of job

satisfaction. Some interviewees felt that their team officer was usually unfair in

his dealings with them; they complained that the team officer advocated

favourism. From the members'point of view, the team officer was a boss. He

was seen as something apart from the labour force; his actions were felt to have

the sanction of higher management and were interpreted as representing the

management's point of view. Because of this, his job assumed a significance,

which was all too rarely recognized. It was the team officer who was daily face

to face with the members with whom the AMS had invested a great deal of

82

responsibilities. Almost everything he did have a fairly immediate significance

over the people of his unit. His manner, way of keeping discipline, technical

competence and ability to carry out operational duties including deploying

members to provide first aid coverage was constantly being observed and

evaluated by those under him. If he is unfair in handling people, his decision

could well be a dispute.

The situation of a team officer was further aggravated by a complicated

supervisory structure with an over-elaborated hierarchy. As the Senior Officers

had constantly interfered the team affairs, members sometimes faced a dilemma

whose order had to be obeyed. The outcome of a decision was definitely was

controversial.

In addition to have a stronger reinforcement of AMS Standing Order, to

train offices with the concept of Rule of Laws and anti-corruption is also crucial

to the success of having a fair and equal working environment. Moreover, an

easy and accessible complaint procedure should be established.

Hersberg (1959) proposes the motivating factors include sense of

achievement, recognition, and vesting of responsibility and the hygiene factors

include salary, interpersonally relations. Hersberg and Maslow's (1987)

theories have the same elements but the approaches are different. In addition to

the use of the equity theory, this question making use of their theories tried to

solicit their feeling of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The views expressed by

the respondents about the sense of achievement is 88.5 % in satisfying that they

83

had a sense of achievement and only 11.5 % disagreeing this statement. In

Table 4.11, it revealed that a majority of the respondents were quite satisfied as

their main expectations had been achieved. They had the chance to serve the

community, learned what they wanted to learn. In order to help members to

continue accomplishing their goals as well as to sustain their interest in serving

the AMS, it is undeniable fact that more opportunities should be provided for

them to achieve their aims.

When they were asked whether the statement, 'I am satisfied with the work

I do in the AMS, because I had got high recognition of their work,' 73.9 % of the

respondents agreed this statement and 26.1 disagreed. This high level of

satisfaction can be explained by the nature of the work of the AMS. As the

AMS main functions is to augment the DH, HA and ambulances of FSD, what

the volunteers will perform are public goods. Members of the public can enjoy

it free of charge. Particularly, the volunteers are extending their assistance to

those who are in distress, they are highly respected by the community.

Particularly, the recent disaster and emergency like the blaze in Garry Building

and the Atypical Pneumonia incidents have raised the image of the Service.

Being a member, they felt their contributions were highly recongised.

Perhaps, helping a person's life is a very sacred and holy job. The AMS

volunteers in their daily work have to standby to save life in times of emergency.

They are assigned to carry out the resuscitation of patient and extricate them

from wreckage. The response of 71.4 % of agreeing this statement can

substantiate such hypothesis. The members realised that their decision was a

84

matter of hfe and death, they understood that they had rested with great

responsibility. The 28.6 % of the respondents disagreed with this statement

perhaps as revealed in the interviews, they were only providing first aid training

to the members of the public. They would be treated less important, when a

doctor, nurse or ambulanceman was present. They were nothing but an

assistant to them. They could not claim that they were professionals. As a

whole this result is encouraging.

Not surprisingly, pay is the motivating factor for the respondents to join the

AMS. In the Table 4.10, only a minority has the expectation of getting

remuneration when they joined the AMS. There is 52.6 % of them agreed that

they were satisfied because they could get good pay and allowances to subsidise

their daily expenses. This queer phenomenon can be explained that the

volunteers' aim was to serve the community or learn first aid when they enrolled,

they realised that they had the remuneration afterwards, they were quite satisfied

with such unexpected 'windfall.' On the other hand, some of them still

persisted their aims to serve.

Similarly, from the data collected, 94.1 % of the respondents indicated that

they were satisfied because they had good relationship with their peer members.

A good deal of members' expectations were to make friends with the others

(Table 4.10). And many of them were influenced to join the AMS by their

family members, friends or relatives (Table 4.9). They have a sense of 'affinity'

for them to link together. A new member has to take the recruitment training.

There is a good deal of occasions for them to come together. The esprit de

85

corps is built up in the training. After the recruitment training, they have to

work together and learn together in districts. The length of service of the

respondents is very short (i.e most of them less than 3 years, see Table 4.6), they

do still possess the enthusiasm in seeing each other. In particular, half of the

respondents are single (Table 4.1), they have no family burdens and have plenty

of time to squander. The 5.9 % disagreed with this statement perhaps they

could not build up an intimacy with the other members and are looking for it in

the Service.

Once again, 72.1 % of the subjects responded that they were satisfied

because the working location is excellent. This is a good sign as most of the

AMS training locations, apart from the AMS Headquarters, are situated at

schools and government offices. The learning environment is usually

unsatisfactory when compared with the other training institutes. Perhaps, owing

to this reason, there is 27.9% of the respondents disagreed with this statement.

No matter what organisation one serves there must be a mechanism to

terminate a member' membership from the organisation, they have to be abided

by rules and regulations. AMS has its Ordinance (AMSO) and Regulation

(AMSR) to provide procedures and reasons to terminate a membership. In this

respect, 71.6 % of the respondents were quite satisfied that they believed they

would not be arbitrarily terminated of their membership. They had confidence

that they would not be charged with any disciplinary offence if they had

committed nothings against the regulations. Unfortunately, there are 28.4 % of

them felt unsatisfied and disagreed with this statement. This point may need

86

some efforts to explore the reason why.

Training

Training factors accounting for satisfaction in the AMS

This question is once again designed with the same pattern as in last question.

The mode of analysis will be done as the same.

Table 4.14

Training Satisfaction

Training for volunteers

is very important

The current amount of

training for volunteers

is sufficient

The current provided

centralized training

courses are very

difficult to secure a

place, because there are

so many applicants and

the places are limited

Disagree

Frequency

20

212

25

Percentage

5.0

68.6

7.9

Agree

Frequency

377

97

290

Percentage

95.0

31.4

92.1

87

I have got what I

wanted to learn when I

joined the AMS

The current training is

very useful.

116

48

37.3

19.1

195

203

62.7

80.9

In the chapter of Literature Review, it states that if an organization provides lots

of training opportunities, it is more likely to retain workers, because training can

create an interesting and challenging environment, increasing an individual's

employability outside the organization, simultaneously increasing his job

security and, desiring to stay with his current employer.

The AMS is a unique voluntary organisation. It provides a service, which

is not an ordinary one. One has to undergo training before he can carry out his

duties. The recruitment training, the nursing training, disaster medical attendant

training and lot of centralised training are offered to the members. Therefore,

the more knowledge they gained, the more confidence they have to perform their

assignment proficiently. In the context of its importance, it is not strange that

95 % of the respondents chose 'training for volunteer is very important' only 5%

of them have the contrary view. In the same line of thinking, 68.6% of the

respondents disagreed 'the current amount of training for volunteers is

sufficient,' and 31.4 % of them thought sufficient.

As a general practice, members would have equal number hours of training

in his district when they are allocated to a district.

88

Every now and then, the HQ will run a variety of centralised training.

These courses are open for application by all members who meet the criteria of

the courses. The selection criteria are usually based on the seniority of the

applicants; the attendance hours of the members in the district so as to prove

whether he has achieved the 'efficiency' requirement (i.e. 60 hours each year)

and the nomination of the superior officer. All the year round, the HQ will run

the Non-emergency Ambulance Transfer course, Methadone Treatment

Programme course etc. The HQ will short the list as a practice by selecting

those candidates who meet the basic requirements first. Since a lot of

applicants meet the requirements, then, only those who have longer length of

service and officers' strong recommendations will be selected. These account

for few vacancies were left to the other members and they have to compete very

keen before they could secure a place.

This is mainly a resource problem. Members attended the interview also

expressed such concerns. That is why 92.1 % of the respondents

overwhelmingly agreed the statement 'the current provided centralised training

are very difficult to secure a place, because there are so many applicants and the

places are limited,' and only 7.9 % of them disagreed.

Regarding to their aim to learn when they joined the AMS, 62.7 % of the

respondents claimed they have got what they wanted to learn and 37.3 % of them

disagreed to the statement. In fact, no all the volunteers who joined the AMS

are for learning first aid (only about 35%, see Table 4.10), some of them may feel

89

enough for them to perform their duties whist the other thinking the otherwise.

Hence, 80.9% of the respondents thought the current training was very useful.

Perhaps the recent introduction of the Disaster Medical Assistant training

Programme is a very comprehensive one. It has the professional ambulanceman

standard and it can fortify their confidence in performing their duties.

Referring to the 'other comment about training,' the followings are the

highest appearance in the column:

-No promotion preparation course;

-Unfair of allocation of centralised training course based only on the

seniority;

-The introduction of intravenous injection course;

-Lack of practical experience;

-Paediatric training required;

-Too many students in a class;

-Trainers' incompetence;

-The training course not up-to-date;

-Increase the categories of training courses;

-Training equipment outdated;

-Leadership training and physical fitness training required.

These suggestions are wholly related to the training resources and the

introduction of different uncommon courses. They may be entertained should

the circumstances permit.

90

Conclusion

The findings in the demographic characteristic of the volunteer members in this

study generally are similar to the ones done by the other countries. But the

AMS has the same proportion of male and female members, while the others

male is the dominant. As stated in the review the nature of work will determine

the type of voluntary organization one will join. There are more males than

females in voluntary organizations. Nevertheless, the nature of work of the

AMS is mainly to perform the nursing, medical and first aid in times of peace

and emergency. It is quite different from the other discipline of work. The

high percentage of female members in the AMS can highlight the particularities

of the AMS. The length of service of members is mostly less than 3 years; this

can explain why every year the dropout rate is around 12 % of the strength.

Their education background are mostly in secondary level but the 20 % of them

have the matriculation and university can provide the potential for the Service to

develop some high flier for the future organisational development. This finding

is tally with the studies that those with higher income, educational level, and

occupational status and those who own more property are more likely to

volunteer.

As a lot of them are laymen, they are not the medical professionals, a

majority of the respondents expressed that they wished to acquire first aid

knowledge, serve the community, they claimed they have achieved what they

wanted to a certain extend, especially in the first few years. The expectancy

theory can explain the satisfaction can retain the volunteers in the AMS. One

91

can easily imagine that a member will soon resign from a voluntary organization

if his expectations cannot be achieved when he joined it. Three years is not a

short time. This satisfaction can at least retain them for such period of time.

However, the longer in the Service, the more they want to acquire more than they

originally wished when they joined the AMS. This can also illustrate the

occurrence of gradual dropout is expected.

In general, more than half of the respondents felt equality in treatment

among different members. The equity has paid a role in keeping members to

state. They were satisfied of having a sense of achievement, recognition of

their work, taking greater responsibility, interpersonal relationship, job security

and excellent working condition. The Herzberg' motivating factors and hygiene

factors have been addressed, it is found that most of the respondents were

satisfied with the motivating factors. It is known from the survey that the lower

level of Maslow's hierarchy theory did not have the influence on the members.

There is no want of the basic need.

Other than that, comments also made that training is very important and

useful, but they viewed that training places are insufficient and the resources are

inadequate.

Before conclusion, one cautious word has to make. The number of

members who chose 'neither disagree nor agree' is average about 141. The

figure represents about 34% of the total members not expressing any view on the

statement. This 34% of members can alter the result of the findings if they

92

afterwards change their mind. Nevertheless, regarding to the sense of

achievement of the members, there are 276 members expressed that they are

'satisfied with the work of the AMS, because they have a sense of achievement,'

we may firmly believe that the AMS can give a sense of achievement to its

members. This majority indicates that the change of the minds of the

non-respondents would not change the result. In addition, the 335 members

firmly expressed that they had good relationship with their peer members. This

is a good sign that the AMS can create a good environment to foster good

relationship among the members. This is a prerequisite to enhance the esprit de

corps in the Service.

These valuable insights obtained from the survey can pave the way for the

future use of the management.

93

CHAPTER 5 - CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusions

Motivation is a crucial psychological process. Few would deny that it is the most

important process in the approach to organizational behaviour. Motivation

should never be underrated, for it can improve the organisational competence and

maintain the organisation's leadership in the market. Once again, the purpose

of this study is to identify the following:

f) To analyse volunteers' socioeconomic status, interpersonal networks

and demographic characteristic of members;

g) To understand the "reasons" of members why they join the Auxiliary

Medical Service;

h) To understand members' components of satisfaction and dissatisfaction

of volunteer members;

i) To identify members' satisfaction level of the existing training and

their implications on the motivation of the volunteers;

j) To give recommendations of improving the situation.

According to the results of the personal profile, it is known that the AMS

has an almost equal number of genders. The females and males both have the

enthusiasm to contribute their effort to the society. It may be owing to the

nature of the work of the AMS, i.e. provision of caring and first aid; these are not

94

tedious and strenuous work and are comparatively light duties.

The striking similarity of having many young people to contribute their

valuable time to the society with other studies has highlighted that in the AMS

young people are willing to serve the others. Furthermore, the significant

young age of the respondents may indicate young persons in Hong Kong are

enthusiastic to contribute and dedicate their efforts to the society.

The AMS's members have an educational qualification of at least secondary

level. This high education level can pave the way for the future organisational

development and the strategy of organisational learning. The organization can

focus their recruitment strategy on the target group, for they may have the high

potential to be the future membership.

It is known from the analysis that a large proportion of the respondents is

married with children. However, it may be one of the causes of the later

dropout rate. It is quite natural people may become less enthusiastic when their

attentions are distracted to family affairs. Something must be done to improve

the situation.

One major discovery is that a high percentage of administrators are working

in the private sector. Despite the prevalent economic downturn, this group of

people is the core of the population. Strategy and development should pay

attention to the thinking of this group of people.

95

One may be surprised to learn that the percentage of the professionals such

as doctors and nurses is unexpectedly low. It may be due to the fact that doctors

and nurses do not have the great expectations when they joined the AMS; as

what they are doing in their regular jobs is to do the same things as in the AMS.

It lacks the attractions that may be the cause of the low turn-up.

Most of the members holding their existing ranks are less than three years.

Provided their expectations and motivating factors can be met, their enthusiasm

may be suffocated and smothered, strategy has to be formulated to maintain their

achievement.

The influence of the friends, family members, relatives can have a

significant impact on the recruitment of the members. As a majority of

members recruited are mainly from the influence of these persons, the

advertisement only pays a minor role in it.

To actualise one's aims is the main motivating factor to join the AMS. The

discovery of AMS members who joined the Service is to serve the community

and to learn first aid or medical knowledge. Pay and allowances are not the

main issue in their mind. This is tally with the altruism. The purpose of

leaning first aid is to equip oneself before he can render his assistance to the

needed.

Job satisfaction has a significant relationship with the retention of the

volunteers. The members are quite satisfied with the management's policy. They

96

were satisfied with the management's provision of recognition, advancement

responsibility etc. But there is much to be desired in the management of

equality. The expression of unequal treatment has triggered concerns, which

the administration has to take heed of it. Further investigation needs to be done

before it become irreversible.

Members have a positive attitude to the demand of training. They treasure

the training provided by the management. But they are not satisfied with the

quantity and availability of places for them. This may be a source of frustration,

which may lead to a drain of human resources. Therefore, training

opportunities have to be increased.

Recommendations

In the context of the above findings, recommendations are made in an

attempt to improving the situation. It is recommended that:

Enhancement of social relationship

AMS is a voluntary organization, people are contributing their valuable time to

the society. Derived from the survey, members are satisfied to work with the

peer group members and they are influenced to join the AMS by their family

members, relatives and friends. As their spare time are devoured by such

activities, they will be lack of opportunity to meet their family members or friend,

in particular their spouse and children; especially almost a half of the members

97

are married and a majority of them are married with children. The holding of

internal functions such as carnival, games days for the children, out-door

activities, parties and family groups activities can enhance the 'affinity' of the

members. If there is a need, a nursery corner can be established in the AMS

establishments to accommodate members' children. This can enable to release

them to wholeheartedly take part in the AMS activities. This hygiene factor can

maintain the coherence of the members and in turn reduce the turnover rate.

Enhancement of the operational opportunities

It is noted from the survey, members are not for the purpose of monetary return

when they joined the AMS. This discovery can enable the management to think

the possibility of reducing the payment (as members are eligible to claim pay and

allowances when they call out to perform duties), the payment can adjust to the

nominal that it is enough for them to cover their traveling expense and meals.

The saved money can be used to provide more opportunities for more members

to take part in the operational duties (e.g. first aid coverage for Walk for Millions,

Firework Display), the more operational duties they can perform, the more

members can contribute and the more members are satisfied.

Enhancement of training opportunities

As mentioned above, monetary return is not the cause of members' joining the

AMS and there is a great demand of places in training course, the management

can consider the point of increasing the number of training courses. As the

98

management is constrained by the limited financial resources for the trainees

have to be paid if they are selected to attend course (e.g. they are eligible to claim

pay and allowance like the auxiliary policemen who attend their annual training).

This limitation has severely hindered the number of places offered to the

members. The management can offer some training courses such as Basic

Ambulance Aid, Disaster Nursing, Infectious Disease courses, Methadone

Treatment Programme course, Advanced Obstetric course etc. but the applicants

should be informed beforehand that no pay and allowances will be paid for their

attendance. For these courses are not the pre-requisite of being a member, but

for 'adding value' to themselves. This measure can satisfy a great deal of

members who want to acquire more advanced knowledge and facilitate their

self-actualisation.

Enhancement of the Service Image

It is believed that people serving in an organisation of high reputation can have a

sense of pride. It is indisputable that the AMS is not generally known in Hong

Kong. More publicity is needed to improve the image of the Service. Taking

part in the public functions such as Tourist Festival Parade, appearing on

television, Walk for Millions charitable activities, inter-departmental rescue

exercises AMS band performance or dragon boat competitions etc are

indispensable to make people know the existence of the Service. The constraint

of limited remuneration has hampered such implementation. This difficulty can

also be tackled by making use of the voluntary contribution of free service hours

by the members. The service done by the members concerned should be given

99

recognition such as a souvenir, a token of coupons of buying books or one of the

considering factors for promotion.

Enhancement of the members' competence

Members acknowledged that they wanted to procure first aid and medical

knowledge and agreed that training was very crucial for them to carry out their

duties. The more they are competent, the more confidence will they have.

The management may consider upgrading the level of training. The citizens'

demand has become higher and higher. They need high quality of service. The

AMS counterpart, i.e. ambulance services of the FSD has upgraded its quality of

service by leading in the Emergency Medical Attendant Programme from Canada.

The ambulancemen have to learn the intravenous injection, administration of

drugs and the art-of-the-state instruments. As AMS is to augment the

ambulance services of the FSD, it is crucial to have the more or less level of

quality of service to the members of the public. The existing training material

cannot satisfy the high demand of the community. It is necessary to take in the

new know-how. The Service can first deploy staff like the FSD to Canada to be

trained and qualified as instructors, and then these instructors can train the

members. In fact it is realised that the burden of paying members for the

training can be released by doing the same 'self-value-added' training course (i.e.

with no pay.) Members qualified will be issued with a different coloured name

badge which can distinctly show that he is qualified with particular technique.

Not only can this furnish the member with better confidence when they are

deployed to perform duties, but encourage them to acquire greater

100

responsibilities and more satisfaction.

Concluding Comments

Through this survey, the management now have a general understanding of the

profile of the members, their needs and expectation when they joined the Service.

Their satisfaction level in relation to the advancement, recognition, social

relationship and responsibility were asked. Some lights have sheded on this

dark corner and insights have been gained. The revelation of the high demand

of training may be also the crux of the dissatisfaction.

The recommendations made in this chapter may provide some hints for the

management to consider and the members' job satisfaction may be improved the

dropout rate can be decreased.

Lastly, as observed in the findings, the inequality of treatment exists in the

Service, the management has to look into such problem in the Service before it

becomes out of hand. A further study on this issue is recommended.

101

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Anderson, Walfred A. 1943, "The family and Individual Social Participation," American Sociological Review, 8

Argyle, Michael 1959, Religious Behaviour, Glencoe, IL: Free Press

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Application for the use of information

I would like to seek your approval for the use of information of the AMS in my

Master of Public Administration (MPA) dissertation.

2. I was nominated by the Service and sponsored by the Civil Service Training and

Development Institute to attend the MPA course at the University of Hong Kong. One

of the compulsory requirements is to submit a dissertation regarding to the

administration of the Hong Kong Special Demonstration Region Government.

3. I have chosen the title " the analysis of the motivation of volunteer members of

the Auxiliary Medical Service in Hong Kong." As this course is financed by the

public fund, I adopt this title is mainly because this research can benefit the Service

and the information can be used for the Service's future planning and strategy.

4. The work of the dissertation consists of document research, issuing

questionnaires to the volunteers, conducting interviews etc (it is understood the

volunteers are not compulsory to respond to my questionnaire and interview). I give

my words that no classified information shall be contained in the dissertation without

the prior approval of the Service.

5. I should be grateful if you would approve my application.

(HO KamTim)

SOTO (LS)

rom

ief( )

el. No.

)ate

Ho Kam Tim, SOTO(LS)

in KTHO/P

2762 2026 Fax: 2715 0245

28 May 2003

MEMO To Chief Staff Officer, AMS

(Attn: Mr. Mat hew Wong, Departmental Secretary)

Fax. No. Total Pages 1

Your ref. in

Dated:

Auxiliary modical Services Sunning Plaza, 13th floor, 10, Hysan Avenue, Hong Kong Date : 25.9.1986

Proposed New legilsation for the Auxiliary Medical Services

and Hevision of the Essential Services

Corns Ordinance (Can. 197)

Proso3ed Amendments to;

Compulsory Services Ordinance Compulsory Services Tribunal Procedures Hulss

'Essential Cervices Corps Ordinance Essential Cervices Corse (General) regulations rensior.3 Ordinance ' Auxiliary Forces Fay i Allowances Ordinance Auxiliary Forces ray -x Allowances Crd. Cub. Leg.

Background

2. The essential Cervices Corps Ordinance ITo. 51 of 1549 first became law on 7th Lecomber I94S when it was considered necessary for the Governor to raise and maintain a volunteer force of pexaonn who would assist in the maintenance or the performance of essential services in the territory of Hong Kong. This Ordinance and Subsidiary Legislation were revised in 1950 as Cap. 197 and again in 1967.

3. The Auxiliary Medical Cervices was officially established as a Unit of the Torpa aj Lection 2 of the ::.ZZ (A^C) Regulations on 22nd Lececber 1950. The :.ain objective of the subsidiary Legislation (vis: LI of Cap. 197) was to establish an Auxiliary Medical Services Unit and to appoint the Cirector of 1'edicai and Health Services as the Unit Controller.

4. Apart from defining the additional powers and dutieG (which were originally vested in the Comrlssioner/^SG)to the Unit Controller//C'S, no specific directives were incorporated in the legislation as to the rain objectives of the A.V.S.

5. The Essential Services Corps Ordinance was in later years found to be too generalised and non-epecific for uniformed and disciplined auxiliary units, e.g., the Soyal Hong Kong P.egiaent, (The Volunteers); the noyal'UIcng Zong Auxiliary Air Force; and the Coyal liong Kong Auxiliary Police Force. In this respect seoarate legislation was introduced for each of the aforesaid units and ordinances Cap. 199; Cap. 193; and Cap. 233 respectively came into being. The introduction of such legislation haa left the remaining two auxiliary units namely, the Auxiliary xedical Uervicee (A...= .S.) and the Civil Aid Cervices (C.A.3.) to continue to rely on the Essential Cervices Corps (General) regulations for legal backing. This is found undesirable, especially in recent years the A..V.S. has had considerable changes and expansions and' have therefore accepted more duties and activities for which proper legal rscognition oust be allowed.

Ref: SSCX 4/5/83

Can 246 Cap 246 (Cub ^eg) Cap 197 Cao 157 Can 89 Cao 254 Cao 254

- 2 -

Throughout the years the A..M.S. has experienced growing membership, expansion to many populated new townshi ps ana the acceptance of fur ther roleo and r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s , I t i s considered appropriate therefore tha t the AMS should have

own l e g i s l a t i o n , exclusively concerned with i t s own powers, cut ies and funct ions. That i s a seT^irate ordinance for the A u x i l iary medical Services i s now proposed to give a l l aspects ox Ai*i a c t i v i t i e s proper l ega l coverage.

Present Role of AS!S

'• , 11i3 excellency the "ovemor 's in h i s r i r s c t i v e to t..e uonanissioner, AES, la id down in 1S66 (subsequently revised in iSui ; t ha t the role of the Al-'£ should b e : -

R o l e

4. The role of the Auxiliary .Medical Services i 3 • to augment the services of the Medical and Ilealth i'ep'artaent and the Ambulance Service in any of the following s i t u a t i o n s : -

(a) d i s a s t e r s due to na tu ra l causes, such as typhoons and rainstorms;

(b) other d i s a s t e r s , including major a i r c r a f t crashes and large-scale f i r e s ;

(c) ma^or epidemics}

(d) c i v i l disturbances;

(e) inf lux of i l l e g a l immigrants or refugees;

(f) armed conf l i c t in the region, a f fec t ing Eong Zong e i the r d i r e c t l y or i nd i r ec t l y ;

(g) any other emergencies."

8. The tasks l a id down in the T i rec t ive , reproduced as follows, c l e a r l y i l l u s t r a t e a move from emergencies/disasters coverage i n to a much more diverse commitment in medical c iv ic dut ies of a non-hazardcuc/disaster /eiergency na tu r e : -

"Tasks

5 . In any of these s i t ua t i ons , the Auxiliary Medical Services may be ca l led upon to provide t ra ined , d isc ipl ined and equipped personnel under the command of t h e i r own o f f i c e r s , as well as medical s t o r e s 1-

(a) to re inforce the ex i s t i ng emergency services i n both Government and non-Government medical i n s t i t u t i o n s ;

(b) to t r a i n members of the A35 and other Government personnel i n f i r s t a id;

- 3 -

(c) to a«t tip aux i l i a ry hospi ta l -units i n schools and o ther su i tab le prsmiaee;

(u) to reinforce ex i s t ing Government c l i n i o s and to s e t up addi t ional dressing s t a t i ons as required;

(e) to provide support to the ^abulance Service;

(f) to provide mobile F i r s t Aid Par t i e s and Forward L'edical Aid Units to work with e ther rescue Cervices;

(g) to provide teams trained in f i r s t aid and casualty handling in centres of population;

(h) to operate i so l a t ion centres es tabl ished by the -"edi-al and Health department i n a major epidemic;

( i ) to a s s i s t i n vaccination campaigns;

(i) to undertake any ether tasks requested by the Secretary f c r Security a f t e r consul ta t ion with you."

Pro-oosal for Arran.<rements/Amendments of Regulations for the Auxil iary Medical Services

3. Since the Auxiliary Medical Cervices have functioned for many years upon the l e g i s l a t i o n of the Essent ia l Cervices Corps (General) ".emulations as pr incipal r e f l a t i o n s , the proposed Auxiliary ".edicai Cervices Ordinance i s suggested to base, s t r u c t u r a l l y , on the pr inc ipa l regula t ions with su i tab le amendments and inc lus ions .

Reasons for the Proposal

10. The HCC Crdinanca and Subsidiary Legislat ions oerQ o r i gi s a l l y designed spec i f i ca l ly to ca te r for any emergency s i t ua t i on in war or peace and not for t r a in ing for and performance of medical c iv ic duties of a ncn-hasardcus nature during peaceful t i n e s . In consequence, the law as i t s tands doe3 not cover A.\TC volunteers i n the performance of t h e i r f u l l range of t a s k s .

1 1 . The Ordinance (Cap, 197) was l eg i s l a t ed to umbrella a l l Units and Cut-units of the Kssential Cervices Corps under general ter=3, with non-specif ic reference to the ro l e s and funct ions of the Auxiliary iledicai Cervices. .Moreover, an ordinance spec ia l ly designed and tailor-made for the Auxiliary Medical Cervices wi l l provide not only appropriate coverage on i t s a c t i v i t i e s but also for the be:tarment of a l l members se rv ing In the A.'i .S.

- 4 -

12. Under existing legislation, the following are either not covered at all or are not clearly covered or defined:

(a) Specific organization of the Sarvica.

(c) The establishment of the Service.

(c) The functions of the Service in its present role.

(d) Length of service on enlistment, and/or penalty for quitting before e:cpiration of the period of service.

(e) Procedures to be followed en failure to attend training or operational euty without a reasonable excuse.

(f) snrolment, retirement ages and tern of service ana re-engagement.

(g) Tower of the Corsniissionsr to raise a Cadet Corps.

(h) Pensions Regulations appertaining specifically to the Service.

(i) Power of Commissioner to direct training and to Gualify trained oersonnel (in particular, the legal racognition for A25 certificates in First Aid).

(j) Appointment and terms of offices of Commissioner.

(k) Appointment and responsibility of Chief Staff Officer.

(l) Procedures for enlistment.

(m) Hules for the training of Cfficer3 and Members.

(n) Training abroad and locally.

(o) Summary punishment for members.

(p) restriction a3 to publications and .giving of lectures without authority.

(q) Restriction as to meetings.

(r) P.eserve of officers and members regulations.

(e) Specific conditions for "requirements for Efficiency".

(t) Absence from liong Kong (leave application criterior)

(u) lensiona, Disabled members, widows.

(v) Retirement ages for members.

- 5 -

Princical objectives

13. The proposal for a separata and individual ordinance for the Auxiliary Medical Services will achieve the objective of providing the A.M.3. with a legal code upon which the A.2.C. will function. The suggested ordinance will not only allow the Commissioner to "be vested wit'-, sufficient powers to direct the roles and functions of the A.JS, but also provide 3e:nbers with proper legal coverage and backing for the services "shey render.

Implications of the f-rorosals

14. Adequate resources are available to meet the proposals.

15. There will be no effect on public relations as the proposed legislation is only reccgnizsing what is already happening.

16. No other parties are likely to be affected. In fact, the new legislation should not affect ether parties as there is no intention to change the AMD operational role in natural/san-made disasters/emergencies or in war.

CnnBen-.?e7itial a.T,endnento to existing legislation

17. Since the Auxiliary Medical Services will adopt it3 new ordinance and thereafter the existing legislation (Cap. 137) upon which it currently functions will no longer apply, it is envisaged that no acendcents to the Essential Services Corps Crdinance be necessary.

Transitional and aavinp: ̂ revisions

13, No transitional or caving provisions are envisaged as being necessary pursuant to the implementation of this proposal.

lie trcs-psctive operation of the law

19. Ihere will be no requirements for retrospective operation oT the law relating to this proposal.

LegCoPaper No. CB(2) 1457/96-Q" ( The minutes have been seen bv the Administration)

Ref : CB2/PL/SE/1

LegCo Panel on Security

Minutes of meeting held on Monday, 2 December 1996 at 8:30 am

in Conference Room A of the Legislative Council Building

Members present

Hon James TO Kun-sun (Chairman) Hon Mrs Selina CHOW, OBE, JP (Deputy Chairman) Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong Hon Emily LAU Wai-hing Dr Hon Philip WONG Yu-hong Hon Howard YOUNG, JP Hon Zachaiy WONG Wai-yin Hon CHEUNG Hon-chung Dr Hon LAW Cheung-kwok Hon Bruce LIU Sing-lee Hon LO Suk-ching Hon Margaret NG Hon TSANG Kin-shing Hon Lawrence YUM Sin-ling

Members absent

Hon Fred LI Wah-ming Hon Andrew CHENG Kar-foo Hon Albert HO Chun-yan Hon IP Kwok-him

] ] other commitments ] ]

Public Officers attending

Agenda Item III

Mrs Carrie YAU, JP Deputy Secretary for Security

Mrs Nancy TSE Assistant Director (Family and Child Welfare) Social Welfare Department

Mr M W HORNER Chief Superintendent, Crimes Headquarters Royal Hong Kong Police Force

Action (a) consider the submissions made by the Hannony House and

Kwan Fook Women's Concern Group to identify the areas of improvement or. the services to be provided to the victims; and

(b) analyse the cause of wife battering with a view to suggesting preventive measures.

18. Mrs Selina CHOW requested and the Administration agreed to Adm provide after the meeting the following information for members' reference :

(a) since the setting up of the Working Group, the number of spouse bartering cases reported to the Police, the Hospital Authority and the Social Welfare Department; and

(b) the number of spouse battering cases in which prosecution was instituted by the Police.

IV. Proposed legislation related to the establishment and regulation of the Civil Aid Services and Auxiliary Medical Services (LegCo Paper No. CB(2) 533/96-97(03))

19. Principal Assistant Secretary for Security (PAS(S)) briefed the meeting on the Administration's paper. She said that the Essential Services Corps Ordinance (ESCO), which was enacted in 1949, provided for, inter alia, the establishment and operation of the Civil Aid Services (CAS) and the Auxiliary Medical Services (AMS). It was too generalised for modern day applications. With the passage of time and in deeping with the changing needs of the community, the roles and services of CAS and AMS had expanded. The Administration intended to introduce separate and updated legislation for CAS and AMS to reflect their current services and operations.

20. In response to members' questions, the Administration made the following points :

(a) The spirit of the Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force Ordinance, the Government Flying Service Ordinance and two proposed legislation on CAS and AMS was the same though they might differ in technical details. The proposed legislation aimed at updating the existing legislative provisions relating to CAS and AMS and would cover all the provisions in ESCO. When the proposed legislation for CAS and AMS were enacted, ESCO would become obsolete and could be repealed.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL BRIEF

Essential Services Corps Ordinance (Chapter 197)

AUXILIARY MEDICAL SERVICE BILL; AUXILIARY MEDICAL SERVICE REGULATION

CIVIL AID SERVICE BILL; CIVIL AID SERVICE REGULATION

INTRODUCTION

At the meeting of the Executive Council on 25 March 1997, the Council ADVISED and the Governor ORDERED that the Auxiliary Medical Service Bill (Annex A) and the Civil Aid Service Bill (Annex B) should be introduced into the Legislative Council.

2 Members took note of the Auxiliary Medical Service Regulation (Annex C) and the Civil Aid Service Regulation (Annex D).

BACKGROUND AND ARGUMENT

General Background

3 The Essential Services Corps Ordinance (the Ordinance) was enacted in 1949. The main objective of the Ordinance and its subsidiary legislation was to establish units of trained persons capable of assisting in the Government's response to natural disasters or other emergencies. The Auxiliary Medical Service (AMS) Unit was established in 1950, and the Civil Aid Services (CAS) Unit was established in 1952 both under the Ordinance.

Change in the Role and Functions of the Services

(A) The Auxiliary Medical Service

4 At its inception, the AMS was intended essentially as a standby medical unit for emergencies. With the passage of time, the unit has expanded its activities into non-disaster related areas. It provides

Ref: SEC

supplementary resources to augment regular medical and health services, both in times of emergency and in other situations. Its roles include -

(a) deploying members to accident scenes to provide immediate treatment to the injured;

(b) providing non-emergency ambulance transfer services;

(c) rendering medical and nursing care to patients in both acute and convalescent hospitals;

(d) providing first aid coverage at major public functions, school activities, and in country parks and at cycle tracks;

(e) assisting in health surveillance and vaccination campaigns;

(f) assisting in the running of methadone clinics,

(g) providing education and training concerning safety and first aid to members of the public; and

(h) organising training and providing paramedic consultancy services for Government departments and other organisations.

(B) The Civil Aid Service

5 When first formed in 1952, the training of the CAS concentrated largely on civil defence duties. However, in the intervening years, although its primary role remains support for Government departments in emergencies, the tasks of the CAS have become much more diverse and now include -

(a) duties during typhoons, landslips and floods;

(b) search and rescue in collapsed buildings;

(c) patrolling country parks and fighting forest fires;

2

(d) managing refugee camps;

(e) combating oil pollution at sea;

(f) crowd control duties;

(g) mountain rescue operations (and training for Government departments);

(h) promoting mountain and hiking safety to schools and the general public; and

(i) providing marshalling services at charity fund-raising activities and other public functions.

The Need for Separate Legislation

6 The Essential Services Corps Regulations are too generalised for the requirements of toda)'. They do not describe the current operational functions of the AMS and the CAS; nor do they provide for the training and other activities of their members and cadets. We therefore propose to introduce separate and updated legislation

THE BILLS

7 The purpose of the two Bills is to provide for the establishment of the AMS and the CAS, to replace the Auxiliary Medical Service Unit and the Civil Aid Services Unit currently estabhshed under the Essential Services (Auxiliary Medical Services) Corps Regulations and the Essential Services (Civil Aid Services) Corps Regulations respectively. Since the purpose and functions of the two Bills are the same, their content is very similar.

8 Part II in both Bills deals with the constitution and functions of the Services. Clause 3 in this part provides for the raising of the AMS and the

" Note The AMS and the CAS arc the only two auxiliary services that do not have their own legislation. Separate legislation has already been enacted for the Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force and the auxiliary section of the Government Flying Service.

3

CAS by the Governor. Clause 4 sets out their principal functions - to provide assistance to regular medical and health services in emergencies in the case of the AMS, and to provide civil support services in the case of the CAS. It is also made clear that the two Services will perform such other duties, commensurate with the training of their members, as may be directed by the Governor, and will provide non-emergency services for the general benefit of the community.

9 Part III provides for the calling out of the Services and the performance of voluntary duties.

10 Part IV deals with the disciplinary matters, including the discharge of members and the handling of complaints.

11 Part V provides for the establishment of the AMS Cadet Corps

and the CAS Cadet Corps.

12 Part VI vests all property of the Services in the respective

Commissioners. Clauses 24 and 25 in this part create certain offences with

respect to misuse of Service or public property.

13 Part VII deals with miscellaneous matters, including medical

and hospital treatment and pay, summary remedies, etc.

LEGISLATIVE TIMETABLE

14 The legislative timetable will be -

Publication in the Gazette 4 April 1997

First Reading and commencement of 9 April 1997

. 4 .

Second Reading debate

Resumption of Second Reading debate, to be notified

Committee Stage and Third Reading

BILL OF RIGHTS IMPLICATIONS

15 The Attorney General's Chambers have advised that the provisions of the Bills are not inconsistent with the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Pohtical Rights as applied to Hong Kong.

FINANCIAL AND STAFFING IMPLICATIONS

16 As the AMS and the CAS will continue to operate on the present basis, there will not be any additional financial or staffing implications.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

17 The Legislative Council Panel on Security was briefed on 2 December 1996, and supported the proposal to introduce separate legislation for the AMS and the CAS.

PUBLICITY

18 The Bills will be gazetted today while a press release will also be issued.

ENQUIRIES

19 For enquiries, please contact Mr Edward TO. Assistant Secretary for Security at 2810 3948.

Security Branch 4 April 1997

Speech by the Secretary for Security

Second Reading of Auxiliary Medical Service Bill and

Civil Aid Service Bill at the LeeCo Sitting on 9 April 1997

Mr President,

1 move that the Auxiliary Medical Service Bill and the Civil Aid

Service Bill be read a second time.

The Bills seek to introduce updated legislation for the Auxiliary

Medical Service and the Civil Aid Service to reflect their modern functions.

The Essential Services Corps Ordinance was enacted in 1949.

The main objective of the Ordinance and its subsidiary legislation was to

establish units of trained persons capable of assisting in the Government's

response to natural disasters or other emergencies. The AMS Unit was

established in 1950, and the CAS Unit was established in 1952 both under

the Ordinance.

At its inception, the AMS was intended essentially as a standby

medical unit for emergencies whilst the CAS mainly carried out civil defence

duties. With the passage of time, the units have expanded their activities into

non-disaster related areas. They provide supplementary resources to

augment the regular forces, both in times of emergency and in other

situations.

The Essential Services Corps Regulations are too generalised for

the requirements of today. They do not describe the current operational

functions of the AMS and CAS; nor do they provide for the training and

other activities of their members and cadets. We therefore propose to

introduce separate and updated legislation for the Services.

The purpose of the two Bills is to provide for the establishment

of the AMS and the CAS, to replace the AMS Unit and the CAS Unit

currently established under the Essential Services Corps (AMS and CAS)

Regulations.

Part II in both Bills deals with the constitution and functions of

the Services.

Part III provides for the calling out of the Services and the

performance of voluntary duties.

Part IV deals with the disciplinary matters, including the

discharge of members and the handling of complaints.

Part V provides for the establishment of the AMS Cadet Corps

and CAS Cadet Corps.

The Legislative Council Panel on Security was briefed on 2

December 1996, and supported the proposal to introduce separate legislation

for the AMS and CAS. Early enactment of the Bills will be welcomed by

members of the AMS and the CAS, who have done and will continue to do

so much in support of overall Government's efforts to maintain order,

security and safety of the community. I urge Honourable Members to give

the Bills speedy consideration.

TOTAL P. 04

Auxiliary Medical Service Bill

Resumption of Second Reading Debate on 4 June 1997 Speech hy the Secretary for Security

Mr President,

The Auxiliary Medical Service (AMS) Bill was introduced into this Council together with the Civil Aid Service (CAS) Bill on 9 April 1997 this year. The CAS Bill is very similar to the AMS Bill. The two Bills seek to introduce updated legislation for the AMS and the CAS to reflect their modern functions.

2 I am grateful to the House Committee for the great care and speed they have taken in scrutinising the Bills and the constructive suggestions they have put forward to improve the Bills.

3 The principal amendments in respect of these Bills which I will propose at the committee stage include -

(a) To clarify that a non-member, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, has in his possession Service equipment or uniform shall be punishable.

(b) To delete references to injury pensions and death gratuities as they have been covered by the new Auxiliary Forces Pensions (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance 1997 which has come into operation on 9 May 1997. The rights of AMS and CAS Unit members to apply for pensions or death gratuities under the new pension scheme are reserved.

(c) To make suitable consequential amendments to the Bills necessitated by the authentication of the Chinese text of the Pension Benefits Ordinance, the Essential Services Corps Ordinance and the Pension Benefits (Judicial Officers) Ordinance.

4 The House Committee has recommended support for the Bills subject to the Committee Stage Amendments. Early enactment of the Bills will be welcomed by members of the AMS and CAS, who have

1 9 9 7 1 0 : 4 6 SB CB DIVISION) + 852 2S6S 9159 P . 0 3 / 0 6

contributed, and will continue to do so in the future, so much in support of the regular forces' efforts to maintain public order and safety of the community.

5 Mr President, with these remarks, I recommend the Bills to this Council.

DRAFT Auxiliary Medical Service Bill

Committee Stage Speech hv the Secretary for Security

I move that clauses 28(1), 30(2), 32(1), 32(3), 32(4), 32(5), 33(1), 33(2) and Schedule 3 be amended as set out in the paper circularised to Honourable Members.

2 The amendments to clauses 28(1), 30(2), 32(1), 32(3), 32(4), 32(5), 33(1) and Schedule 3 have already been referred to in the Second Reading debate.

3 Amendments to clause 33(2) is technical and clarificatory in nature to better the presentation.

4 All the above amendments have been discussed in detail by the House Committee and have received the Committee's endorsement.

5 Mr Chairman, 1 beg to move.

6 INDEX TO LOCAL REGULATIONS, ETC.

Date of Gazette L.N. No. Pat

A—Contd.

Auxiliary Medical Service Ordinance (57 of 1997)— Contd.

Resolution amending the Regulation 27. 6.97 357 B270

Auxiliary Medical Service Regulation 13.6.97 316 B227

13. 6.97 316 B227

27. 6.97 357 B270.

B

Banking Ordinance (Cap. 155)—

Banking Ordinance (Amendment of Tenth Schedule) Notice 1997 7. 3.97 88 B322

1997 7. 3.97 88 B323 Banking Ordinance (Declaration under

Section 2(14)(d)) Notice 23.5.97 280 B2124

23. 5.97 280 B2125

Banking (Amendment) Ordinance 1997 (4 of 1997)—

1997

Banking (Amendment) Ordinance 1997 (Commencement) Notice 1997 31.1.97 59 B200 (No. 2) Notice 1997 9.5.97 225 B1262

1997 31. 1.97 59 B201

1997 9. 5.97 225 B1263

INDEX TO LOCAL REGULATIONS, ETC. 5

Date of Gazette L.N. No Page

A~Conld.

Auxiliary Forces Pay and Allowances Ordinance (Cap. 254)—

Auxiliary Forces Pay and Allowances

(Pensions) Regulation 2. 5.97 184 B812

2. 5.97 184 B813

Pay Classification (Auxiliary Medical

Service) Assignment Notice 13.6.97 318 B2306

13. 6.97 318 B2307

Pay Classification (Civil Aid Service) Assignment Notice 13.6.97 319 B2310

13. 6.97 319 B2311

Auxiliary Forces Pensions (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance 1997 (20 of 1997)—

Auxiliary Forces Pensions (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance 1997 (Commencement) Notice 1997 9. 5.97 226 B1264

9. 5.97 226 B1265

Auxiliary Medical Service Ordinance (57 of 1997)—

Auxiliary Medical Service Ordinance (Commencement) Notice 1997 13.6.97 323 B2324

13. 6.97 323 B2325

Auxiliary Medical Service

The Auxiliary Medical Service (AMS), formerly known as the Medical Civil Defence Unit under the former Medical and Health Department, was established in December 1950 as a corps of professional doctors and nurses together with trained volunteer members to perform tasks to augment the regular medical and health services. The primary purpose of establishing the unit is to tap the manpower of the volunteers in tackling natural disasters and calamities in times of emergency. In recent years, the service has begun to work on the development of disaster medicine in Hong Kong.

Organisation: The AMS was formed in 1950 with a small membership of a mere 2 000 and has grown to the current establishment of 5 258. These members come from all walks of life with about 1 000 being professionals comprising doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dispensers, radiographers and paramedical personnel working either in public or private practice. By law, the Director of Health is the Commissioner of the AMS.

The service is commanded by the Commissioner through the AMS Headquarters which in turn directs the operation of the Operations Wing, the Hospital Wing and the Logistics Wing.

The Operations Wing: It consists of about 4 000 uniformed members. Its principal function is to provide first aid coverage, to undertake casualty evacuation and to operate emergency medical centres. The wing is organised on a regional basis, namely, Hong Kong and Islands, Kowloon, New Territories East and New Territories West, with a total of 18 districts. For operational reasons, the districts are demarcated in a way conforming to those under police and fire commands. AMS members at district level are under the overall command of a District Commander. In each district there are four teams.

The Emergency Response Task Force (ERTF) was established in 1992. It is a team comprising medical doctors, nurses and specially trained volunteer members to provide on-the-spot paramedic services. This special squad operates round the clock to respond to any urgent calls and it will arrive at the scene in 30 to 45 minutes after a call out.

The Hospital Wing: When a major emergency occurs, the Hospital Wing will be alerted to establish the following units: * Dressing Stations (DSN) — These stations will act

as buffer to the casualty clearing hospitals by treating the lightly injured and also act as general dispensaries or clinics for the general public living in the vicinity.

* Casualty Clearing Hospitals (CCH) — These will be reinforced by AMS personnel and emergency supplies rendering them suitable for accepting casualties from the incident site. In practice these hospitals will provide a great number of additional beds.

* Convalescent Units (CU) — These institutions are used for reception of convalescent patients from

casualty clearing hospitals. This would ensure that empty beds are readily made available at every acute hospital throughout the emergency period.

The Logistics Wing: AMS operations are supported by several administrative divisions, e.g. Welfare and Liaison, Transport, General Store and General Administration.

Roles and Functions: The service/duties of the AMS can be divided into emergency and general duties. In times of emergency and natural disaster, the AMS will supplement the medical and health services by providing treatment to the injured on the spot, to convey casualties to hospitals, and to care for patients at both acute and convalescent hospitals. With its teams of uniformed members trained in ambulance manning techniques and first aid, the AMS also helps reinforce the regular ambulance service and provide first aid coverage at public functions.

Mobilization: Request for mobilization of AMS can normally be channelled through the Deputy Com­missioner (Operations). However, direct contact for assistance can also be made with any volunteer commander. Some of the headquarters staff are also available through mobile telephones for the purpose of channelling such messages. The Headquarters Control Room is set up and manned whenever Typhoon Signal No. 8 or black rain storms warning has been hoisted or during emergencies. Requests for call out are normally referred from the Fire Services Headquarters or the Government Secretariat Emergency Co-ordination Centre.

Emergency Duties: Upon the hoisting of Typhoon Signal No. 8 or above, AMS members will report to Fire Services Department Ambulance Depots/Stations to set up first aid coverage for the general public in case of need. AMS will also augment the regular ambulance service by providing an additional ambulance crew at various designated ambulance depots/stations.

In the unlikely event of any nuclear accident, the AMS is also charged with the responsibility of manning monitoring centres and scanning points for decontamination process/operations under the nuclear emergency contingency plan.

Supplies and Appliances: As part of the contingency scheme for AMS operation, emergency stores have been stockpiled at various government clinics and hospitals. These supplies are stored in over some 30 locations in both urban and rural areas for easy retrieval.

General Duties: AMS also provides a variety of general services for the community such as providing first aid coverage for community events like the Walks for Million, Fireworks Display and manning first-aid posts at the country park areas during weekends and public holidays. The teaching and validating of first aid skills for civil

servants and other employees in large organisations are routine duties of the AMS.

Currently, members of the AMS are assisting the Department of Health in running all methadone clinics with related clinical tasks.

The AMS is operating a Non-emergency Ambulance Transfer Service (NEATS) for the community. It serves patients attending Department of Health clinics and residents of Social Welfare Department institutes attending public clinics/private hospitals.

At present AMS has six NEATS ambulances operating daily from 0800 to 1800 hours except Sundays and Public Holidays.

Training: Recruit training is conducted regularly to provide those newly joined with the necessary basic skills and requirements of the AMS. On completion of the basic training, further or more advanced general regular sub-unit training will be provided to each and every member.

General training related to casualty handling, nursing, life-saving, and practical sessions at hospital wards. Accident and Emergency Departments are available to members. Members are also provided with training in the field of leadership, supervisory techniques and management. A newly developed programme on Disaster Medicine which aims to qualify all members at Disaster Medicine Assistant level will be introduced by

1999 with a three-year plan of implementation. Throughout the training curriculum, great emphasis is placed on the spirit of service to the community.

Special training connected with disaster management is introduced through inter-departmental seminars and exchange of information with disaster management authorities at international level. Some AMS personnel have attended courses conducted by overseas disaster management institutions.

Summary: The AMS has tried every endeavour to augment the regular medical and health services. Over the years, members have been mobilised and deployed to assist in mass educational schemes on health campaigns against epidemics and the promotion of community awareness on first aid education.

The AMS will further strengthen its role in disaster management by adopting a more proactive approach. Through promotion and l iaison with other overseas specialist organisations, the role and function of the AMS can be more vividly projected into the community, thus facil itating the fulfi lment of its primary charter of reducing loss of life during emergencies.

(Auxiliary Medical Service Home Page Address: http://www.info.gov.hk/ams/)

Published by the information Services Department Printed by He Printing Department. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government HKSAR Government Website http//www.mfo.gov.hk

1998

Auxiliary M

edical S

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II =

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CA

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perations & Training

Officer

Operations &

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Senior E

xecutive Officer

Executive O

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Chinese Language O

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Senior C

lerical Officer

Clerical O

fficer

Assistant C

lerical Officer

Clerical A

ssistant

Senior H

ospital Foreman

Hospital Forem

an

Personal S

ecretary II

WW

II = Workm

an II

SS

I = Supplies Supervisor I

SS

II = Supplies Supervisor II

AR

T = A

rtisan

MD

= Motor D

river

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ection

AS

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mbulance S

ervices Section

I

TD

= Training &

Developm

ent Section

CS

= Civil S

ervant Training S

ection

LS

= Logistic 3. Support S

ection

Auxiliary M

edical Service G

eneral Organization of the A

MS V

olunteer Structure

* Note :

The C

hief Staff Officer is a full-tim

e government official w

ho is responsible to the C

omm

issioner for the efficient administration, planning, training

and operation of the AM

S.

Establishm

ent

(AM

S.CH

AR

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LS)

AMS Pay Code and Rates of Pay with effect from 1.10.2002

Appendix 'K'

Pay Hourly Rate Daily Rate

Rank Appointment Code of Pay of Pay

enior Grade VII Officer Commissioner C 148.60 1.188.80

irade VII Officer Deputy Commissioner D 127.20 1,017.60

Assistant Commissioner D 127.20 1,017.60 Chief Operation Officer D 127.20 1.017.60 Regional Commander D 127.20 1.017.60

Grade VI Officer Senior Operation Officer F 113.40 907.20 Deputy Regional Commander F 113.40 907.20 Branch Commander F 113.40 907.20 Assistant Branch Commander F 113.40 907.20 Medical Officer I F 113.40 907.20

Senior Grade V Officer Operation Officer I 91.70 733.60 Liaison Officer I I 91.70 733.60 Medical Officer II I 91.70 733.60 District Commander I 91.70 733.60 Division Officer I 91.70 733.60

Grade V Officer Assistant Operation Officer L 70.80 566.40 Liaison Officer II L 70.80 566.40 Assistant District Commander L 70.80 566.40 Assistant Division Officer L 70.80 566.40

Senior Grade IV Officer Supervisor P 63.20 505.60 Assistant Liaison Officer I P 63.20 505.60 Nurse I P 63.20 505.60

Grade IV Officer Assistant Supervisor R 53.50 428.00 Assistant Liaison Officer II R 53.50 428.00 Nurse II R 53.50 428.00

Grade III Officer Senior Auxiliary Dresser V 45.50 364.00 Senior Auxiliary Nurse V 45.50 364.00 Senior Driver V 45.50 364.00

Grade II Officer Auxiliary Dresser I Z 37.10 296.80 Auxiliary Nurse I Z 37.10 296.80 Driver I Z 37.10 296.80

Grade I Officer Auxiliary Dresser II AG 30.50 244.00 Auxiliary Nurse II AG 30.50 244.00 Driver II AG 30.50 244.00 Recruit AG 30.50 244.00

An analysis of the motivation of volunteer members in the Auxiliary Medical Service

Questionnaire (Total 4 pages)

2