Practitioner Perspectives on Learning From Emergency Response Operations: Consequences for a Strengthened Use of Debriefings – A Qualitative Systematic Review

ABSTRACT

This qualitative systematic review explores how emergency service practitioners experience and engage in informal learning opportunities post‐events. Drawing on six qualitative studies, the review examines factors that shape engagement in reflective practices following emergency operations. The findings show that practitioners value informal, peer‐based reflection embedded in everyday work, while expressing scepticism toward wider organisational sharing of experiences due to concerns about hierarchy, blame, and misuse. Although the structured, systematic use of debriefings is promoted in quantitative research as an effective learning tool, this review highlights the importance of negotiability and practitioners' experience of contextual relevance. The analysis suggests that overly rigid or top‐down approaches may undermine engagement in debriefing processes. To strengthen organisational learning, debriefing practices should be adaptive, co‐designed with practitioners, and supported by leadership that fosters trust and protects candour.