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Aim: The aim of this article is to demonstrate the applicability of historical emergency-response data – gathered from decision-support systems of emergency services – in emergency-response statistical modelling. Project and methods: Building models of real phenomena is the first step in making and rationalising decisions regarding these phenomena. The statistical modelling presented in this article applies to critical-event response times for emergency services – counted from the moment the event is reported to the beginning of the rescue action by relevant services. And then, until the action is completed and services are ready for a new rescue action. The ability to estimate these time periods is essential for the rational deployment of rescue services taking into account the spatial density of (possible) critical events and the critical assessment of the readiness of these services. It also allows the assessment of the availability of emergency services, understood as the number of emergency teams which ensure operational effectiveness in the designated area. The article presents the idea of modelling emergency response times, the methods to approximate the distribution of random variables describing the individual stages and practical applications of such approximations. Due to editorial limitations, the article includes the results only for one district (powiat – second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland). Results: A number of solutions proposed in the article can be considered innovative, but special attention should be given to the methodology to isolate random variables included in the analysed database as single random variables. This methodology was repeatedly tested with a positive result. The study was based on data on critical events and emergency response times collected in the computerised decision-support system of the State Fire Service (PSP) in Poland. Conclusions: Presented in this article, the method of approximating the duration of individual stages of emergency response based on theoretical distributions of random variables is largely consistent with the empirical data. It also allows to predict how the system will work in the short-term (over a time span of several years). The predictive property of such modelling can be used to optimise the deployment and to determine the capabilities of individual rescue teams. These studies were conducted between 2012 and 2015 as part of a project funded by the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR), agreement No. DOBR/0015/R/ID1/2012/03.

Purpose: Formulating a definition of safety in terms of humanistic psychology and sociology.Introduction: Humanistic sociology and psychology are the trends standing in opposition to the positivism in science, arguing that human sciences are fundamentally different from natural sciences and require different research methods. They place a particular human being at the centre of research, not as an object but as an entity aware of its actions and social interactions. The main postulates of humanistic sociology are: antinaturalism, inter-actionism, subjectivity of social interaction, as well as search for and understanding of reasons for action of the research object. Similarly, humanistic psychology treats a human being as an entity investigating the reality, observing, providing and planning, requesting and using his knowledge to create reality and adapt to it. The lexical safety analysis, description and justification adopting the medical approach was made in the article. On this basis the definition of safety was formulated. On this basis, the article highlights the problems of subjectivity shaped by a sense of safety analysis of reaching the knowing subject information based on their own experience, belief and researching skills. Thus formed sense of safety is very susceptible to media manipulation. Followed by the deductive considerations, conclusions have been formulated as to the conditions which shape the safety of a broadly defined organisation (a community, a state, an enterprise). The method to assess the level of safety in the personal and organisational dimensions has been formulated in the last part of the article. Methodology: The definition of safety and its implications, in the context of shaping personal and organisational safety, was derived from deductive consid-erations. In the research, the theoretical-methodological attitude was adopted, originating from the humanistic mainstream of sociology and psychology.Conclusions: Apersonal sense of safety depends on life experience, beliefs and the research ability of a human being – the ability of critical thinking, as postulated by Immanuel Kant. Organisational safety can be defined in three contexts, so when using this concept, the context of its definition shoul be specified.