Pain and misery were postponed for ten days.  Dr. Tooth found a bit of infection in my gum, so I am obliged to participate in 10 days of antibiotic therapy.  Oh, well.  At least I got to eat normally last night.

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One of the topics that we have been covering occasionally is that of volunteer fire and EMS recruiting problems and successes.  Unfortunately, the problems have been way outnumbering the successes lately.  Recently, TV Channel 4 in Dallas, Texas, ran this news item about the dwindling numbers of volunteer firefighters in the communities north of the city:

I am in disagreement over what they are claiming their problem is, though.  True enough, their membership numbers are down.  And it’s happening all over.  But ….. are they properly identifying their real causes for it?  Unless you know just what the problem is, you cannot take remedial action to overcome it.

Early in this tv clip the narrator says flatly that membership is lacking “because of the economy.”  I think that is a lame excuse.  We are hearing the economic situation taking the blame for all kinds of failures, some accurately and some like this one, just being a convenient scapegoat.  I have seen several other dips in the economy before, a couple of times even worse than this.  But it usually doesn’t affect volunteerism at all.  If anything, it picks up as people have more time at their disposal and they seek out less expensive ways of using it.  Not to mention the obvious need to step up a little and help out in many different ways.

The vol. chief that they interview is right, however.  The younger generation isn’t showing up like previous generations did.  I believe that there is a cultural shift lately where young people are not being taught by their elders the importance of helping others and instead are wrapped up in themselves more than was usual in the past.  If you can’t encourage them to think about helping their neighbor, then how about playing to their narcissism and convincing them of the rewarding self-satisfaction that is earned by doing something that is both good and “entertaining”?

Another item that caught my attention in the video report was the situation in one of the VFD’s where they say that their active membership dropped from 12 to 3 in just one year.  Now call me cynical if you wish, because I am, but a massive defection like that didn’t come about because the price of groceries has gone up.  There’s something wrong going on in the internal affairs of the department to cause that to happen, if it did.

Not every volunteer fire/EMS company is having these problems, though.  Just over a year ago we posted an article about a vol. fire dept. in upstate New York HERE that had a waiting list of applicants so large that they had to change their by-laws to allow for an increased membership roster.  The secret is finding out the real reason why people aren’t showing up to sign up, and then targeting that cause.  Next week I hope to bring you a couple of success stories of VFD’s that are having successful recruiting drives.  And if you have a success story to share also, send me an email telling me about it.

Now let’s get this equipment checked out.  I need to get the coffee started.

One of the continuing threads running through the Firegeezer pages is the growing efforts of many of the volunteer departments to replenish their rosters with new members.  For whatever reason, interest in joining the fire departments and rescue squads is waning dramatically.  In some areas long-established organizations are drying up entireley.  Last month we reported on a 120-yr.-old VFD in Louisiana that was shut down permanently for lack of participation.

There are several speculative reasons tossed around as to why this is happening and we’ve touched on them before.  But what I am more interested in are the innovative ways that are being attempted to recruit new members.

This is vital for the paid departments, too, because the volunteers have long been a feeder system to develop and send recruits to the paid departments.  But the dynamics of this labor flow have changed dramatically lately.  Within the span of one generation, some areas that were covered by all or largely volunteer departments have grown to the point of needing full-time career FF’s and EMS personnel.  This is fine when it starts because the needed labor force is already there, fully trained and established within the department. 

But as the local pool of recruits runs low, then they start drawing from other areas that are still all-volunteer.  And as those enthusiastic members move on to a career in the emergency services, the active membership of the volunteer company dwindles to the point where they sometimes scratch calls.  One vol. chief told me recently that many of the people who join his all-volunteer department do so with the intention of developing their skills to prepare for application to paid departments.

Many paid departments now are requiring applicants to already possess either a FF-I or FF-II certification before they can be hired.  This has been a mixed blessing for the volunteers because it encourages people to join in order to attain the certification.  And the paid departments benefit by having a pre-screening of sorts that will present them with applicants who have already demonstrated a desire and the competency to successfully make it through the department’s recruit training program.

But this cultural glitch has arisen that has kept potential candidates from even considering  Fire and EMS as worthwhile career – or community volunteer – endeavors.  And that brings us back to square one.

Firegeezer is looking for a correspondent who is willing to keep an eye out for these various programs that are being tried to find new members for the VFD’s and ambulance squads.  If you are involved in such a program or are interested in following it, and you would like to help keep our readers informed of the success of these endeavors, please write to us at:  geezerguys (at) yahoo (dot) com and let us know.

Now let’s get the equipment checked out.  I’m ready for some coffee.