The IAFC’s Volunteer & Combination Officer’s Section (VCOS) recently put out “The Blue Ribbon Report, Preserving and Improving the Future of the Volunteer Fire Service”. Their report is detailed, well researched, and a step in the right direction. I commend VCOS on their effort.
That being said, there are points I agree with, and some that I question. The biggest question I have is “Who is the target reader of this report?” Every one of the points in the report is valid, but they seem to be aimed at a lobbying effort or in changing state and federal government involvement. I agree that support from state and federal officials would benefit the service greatly, but I also believe the work needs to start ‘at home.’
The research that was done states that volunteers “save the American taxpayers $37 billion per year,” and this fact is amazing. The problem is, we as a service have not done enough to publicize this figure. I hope that the report serves to help educate the public. Many of the items in the report would ‘fall into place’ if the public and elected officials read this report.
The problem is that very few members of the public will ever read the report. It is up to each department to make an effort to educate the public. One of the best education and fundraising efforts came from a department in Maine. (Unfortunately I forgot the department’s name…) They hold an annual open house and put a price tag on each piece of equipment throughout the building. This type of education makes it easy to get the appropriation for new apparatus and equipment.
While we are educating the public and elected officials, how about the stat in the report that an active firefighter in many areas can expect to volunteer over 1,000 hours per year? At first that sounded high, then I started doing some math. If you figure on four hours (or so) for weekly drills/meetings, that is 200+ hours to start. Then if you do any outside training, figure on an additional 50-100 hours. Fundraising efforts are at least another 100 hours. We haven’t even gotten to fire calls and you are already half way there. This week’s poll asks: “How many hours per year does your average member spend at the firehouse?”. I am interested to see the results, and I am willing to be everyone will be surprised.
While we are talking about calls, the report states that we average “18,000,000 responses per year,” while only 396,500 ‘working fire calls’ per year. The report touches on the fact that this decrease effects safety and training, but how about its effect on morale and average number of responders per call? If you have a run of two or three workers in a month, what happens to morale? How about the number of responders for ‘structure fires’ or ‘extrication’ versus the number for the ‘milk runs’? In most departments there is too much help at working fires, while they may not turn a wheel for the fire alarm at the local business that always seems to go off at 3 am.
The report goes on to talk about the importance of well trained leadership, and any of my regular readers know that this is one of my ‘soap boxes.’ Leadership is what makes the department, and good leaders are proactive in educating their members and the public, therefore answering many of the issues in the report. The problem comes when leaders are elected because they are ‘popular’ versus qualified.
One of the more ‘interesting’ points of the report is that they suggest that departments responding to over 750 calls a year should “consider providing a compensated leadership position for developing and executing an organizational plan”. While it may be controversial, some time of administrator is needed. With current requirements a volunteer Chief can be wrapped up in filing papers and not able to actually move the department forward. I would add to the suggestion that it might be worthwhile to bring in someone ‘new’ if you are going to hire a paid Chief.
The Blue Ribbon Report does a great job of stressing the importance of planning. Too often departments are working on a day to day basis without a direction and/or goals. The report can give your department a few points to think about and possible long term goals.
The last paragraph of the report sums it up best:
“The volunteer fire service is at a critical juncture in the United States. On one hand we have a positive can-do spirit, on the other hand we have forces that are creating ever-increasing challenges that attack that spirit. The needs and realities of the volunteer fire service appear to be moving in divergent directions, so when the spirit dies, all that remains is historic fact. It is imperative that local, state and federal government understand the challenges listed in this document, develop a problem solving attitude and be proactive in creating a new pathway that will allow the volunteer fire service to survive and flourish. The IAFC stands read to work with all partners to lead this charge. This great country cannot afford to lose the rich legacy of the volunteer fire service.”
The IAFC has done a great job at starting the work that needs to be done. We need to take the next steps to get the report into the hands of our politicians. I personally believe that the departments also need to take responsibility to develop programs for our individual communities. Each point in the report could be further developed into its own report along with action items.
You may download the report at: http://www.volunteerfd.org/blueribbon.pdf
Discuss this column at: http://www.volunteerfd.org/phorum/list.php?f=20