The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "volunteer service" ...
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Could Sandy Hill Have Been Saved?
This series looked at why fire-and-rescue workers were unable to save a woman trapped inside her home even though she was on the phone with a dispatcher giving directions to her upstairs bedroom. The reporting found that volunteers who responded that night did not use thermal imaging equipment that could have helped them find the victim, Sandy Hill; that they did not place a ladder at either of the windows in her bedroom; that they were slow to ventilate the house and remove the smoke that killed her; and that they did not question people who had escaped the house about her location. Additional reporting exposed systemic weaknesses in Spotsylvania's fire-and-rescue services, which rely on self-governing volunteer departments and a smaller number of career personnel hired and directed by the county. These weaknesses include a poorly structured chain of command, lack of communication, insufficient training for man volunteers, and a failure to enforce existing regulations due in large part to friction between the career and volunteer units.
Tags: Firefighters; Fire Department; asphyxiation; volunteer; equipment; protocol; Spotsylvania; fire-and-rescue; training; regulation
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Fire Alarm
Long Island, the last densely-populated region of the country served almost exlusively by volunteer firefighters, is now paying as much for its small-town service as many U.S. cities do for fully paid departments. In their efforts to cope with waning volunteerism, fire departments here spend extraordinary sums on premium trucks and equipment,travel junkets, enormous firehouses and costly perks- and for paid staff who answer calls, but are hired under every title but firefighter. Despite all the spending, most volunteer fire departments are not getting fire crews to respond as fast as volunteer standards say they should.
Tags: firefighters; volunteer firefighters; response time; perks; fire department budgets
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When Seconds Count
This investigation is a continuation of the original story which exposed problems with Virginia Beach's volunteer rescue service. After a 10-month investigation, reporters found that only 60 percent of patients received help within six minutes. The volunteer service is also overworked and understaffed, and, in many cases, rescues were slow because crews got lost trying to find the neighborhoods.
Tags: rescue workers; slow response time; firefighters; emergency; CPR
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Casualties of Peace
A nearly-two year long investigation by the Dayton Daily News discovered widespread violence, including murders, against volunteers in the Peace Corps. "They have died at the rate of about one every two months since 1962," and "reported incidents of assault on volunteers more than doubled since 1991," with women the prime targets of such attacks. This seven-part series -- based on interviews with more than 500 people in nearly a dozen countries and a crime incident database obtained from the Peace Corps after a lengthy court battle -- reveals a disturbing pattern of unsafe conditions that were long masked or even covered up by the Peace Corps. In ten death cases examined by the Daily News, the paper found the "Peace Corps misled families, the public or other volunteers about the circumstances of the deaths." The Corps' policies resulted in sending ill-trained volunteers "alone to some of the most dangerous corners of the world where they may be unsupervised for months on end." These volunteers, frequently young people fresh out of school, receive little to no training about what they will encounter and how to stay safe. The newspaper's investigation also found the behavior of Peace Corps volunteers themselves often puts them at risk. "Alcohol was identified as a factor in nearly one in three assaults since 1999," and "in more than half of the reported rapes since 1990, the attacker was identified as a 'friend/acquaintance.'"
Tags: peace corps; peace; volunteer; volunteering; college; school; goodwill; oversees; foreign; international; government; service; CAR; database; legal; lawsuit; FOIA
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New Scrutiny for Powerful Greek Systems
The Chronicle of Higher Education examines controversies surrounding the today's Greek system. The reporter finds that fraternities and sororities often promote racist and sexist attitudes. The story exemplifies the findings with two incidents - the rejection of a black student by all white sororities at the University of Alabama, and the distribution of a sex newsletter by a fraternity at Dartmouth College.
Tags: students; faculty; rush; fraternities; sororities; volunteer service; segregation; racism; minorities
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Police Explorers
WFLA-TV "uncovered a five-year pattern of sexual exploitation involving officers and teenage Police Explorers (a branch of the Boy Scouts). The teens signed up as volunteers to get on-the-job training for future careers in law enforcement and ended up becoming a 'dating service' for officers. Our reports revealed that police commanders ignored the problem and in some cases blamed the teenagers for initiating affairs. Some of the romances involved underage girls and/or married officers."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; Boy Scouts; Tampa police; crime; Largo Police Department
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"Thinning Ranks Strain Medical Rescue Squads"
A computer-assisted reporting project of ambulance response times revealed that the local dispatching service, staffed largely by unpaid volunteers, worked better than expected, with response times actually dropping in previous years.
Tags: Dutchess county; FOIA; database
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Medi-Crack
Fox News/Fox Files reports "an undercover investigation of a health-care system scam fueling a drug epidemic. On the streets of LA.... Many people with Medi Cal and/or Medicare cards were recruited and paid to go to the doctor. In many instances these people took the money and bought drugs, in numerous cases crack, which provided the "entrepreneurs" behind this scam, steady, dependent volunteers for their illegal enterprise. The doctors would use the Medicare / Medi Cal cards to bill California State and/or Federal government for services rendered. ..."
Tags: TAPE TRANSCRIPT insurance fraud ethics Dr. Jay Borstein Medicare fraud
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Special Report: Rural communities switch tactics to speed ambulance service; In the country, the 911 wait can be deadly
This two-part series investigates how the volunteer shortage for ambulance crews in slowing response times in emergencies.
Tags: ambulance response time; EMTs; Fitzpatrick; Times-Union
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No title (id: 12500)
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette series detailing the plight of Arkansas' poor, elderly citizens--23 percent of the state's population. The series revealed horrifying abuse and neglect, the inconsistencies of state laws protecting the elderly, and the lack of communication between the various volunteer and government agencies providing services to them.