Table 3.

Overarching categories and key concepts emerging from qualitative analyses of the interviews

Category	Concept	Representative quote(s)
Policy environment	Related policies	‘Honestly speaking, it is very hard to maintain normal operations of volunteer organisations with only a small amount of funds being given by the government.’ (volunteer organisation manager)
	Related Law	‘As far as I know, there are no unified laws and regulations for volunteer services throughout the country, and the laws and systems set up by the local governments vary.’ (official)
	Coordination mechanism	‘Because of a lack of effective coordination, both spontaneous volunteers and organised volunteers failed to play their role in many emergency rescue efforts and they instead caused chaos.’ (official)
Organisational management	Volunteer recruitment	‘I have lived in the area for years, but have never heard about volunteer recruitment, I don’t know where to go to volunteer.’ (resident)
	Emergency training	‘I don’t have any first aid skills and do not know where to get the training. As for our communities, it seems that there has never been any organisation which provides emergency education and training. So I do not think I have the ability to be an emergency volunteer.’ (resident)
	Protection mechanism	‘Emergency rescue is risky, and I don’t have insurance. If I volunteer, I’m not sure if there are organisations or agencies that would provide me with risk-reduction protection.’ (resident)
	Incentive mechanism	‘In our country, volunteers generally are given a few honourable rewards, such as certificates and honorary titles. There is a lack of incentives related to their benefits. Also, there is a lack of a volunteering culture in this society.’ (volunteer organisation manager)