National Volunteer Fire Council Assists Volunteer Fire Departments with Recruitment and Retention Needs

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Two-thirds of the 1.2 million firefighters in the United States are volunteers, according to the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA). Each year these first responders save municipalities $37 Billion. However, over the years it has become more difficult to recruit and retain new volunteers. According to the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), in the last 20 years alone there has been a 10% decrease in volunteerism in fire and EMS departments. To help volunteer fire departments in their recruitment and retention efforts the NVFC has partnered with the USFA on various levels to provide them with valuable resources.

One tool that the NVFC and USFA have made available to volunteer departments is the National Volunteer Fire Council's 260-page manual entitled, "Retention and Recruitment for the Volunteer Emergency Services: Challenges and Solutions." According to Vern Losh, the California State Director of the NVFC, "Recruitment and Retention is probably one of the biggest issues facing the volunteer fire service today. We need new tools and new avenues to recruit, maintain and keep retaining volunteer firefighters across this nation and all of the emergency service works. So the National Volunteer Fire Council has partnered with the U.S. Fire Administration to develop a brand new manual on issues related to recruitment and retention."

Several factors have contributed to the decline in volunteerism, including leadership challenges, federal regulations, training requirements, inter-department demands, call volume, commute times, increased living costs, and other social and economic factors. The NVFC manual addresses each of these issues and provides examples of solutions that volunteer fire and EMS departments across the United States have successfully employed. The guide also provides departments with various resources, including results and statistics from national studies, sample documents that can be reproduced or customized to fit various department needs, and references. This free guide can be accessed both on the NVFC website and the USFA website.

Another joint effort between the NVFC and the USFA to help volunteer fire departments with retention and recruitment is the Fire Corps Program. Fire Corps is a partner program to Citizen Corps, which began when President Bush established the USA Freedom Corps in his 2002 State of the Union Address. Citizen Corps is the division of the USA Freedom Corps that helps communities to prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Fire Corps is managed by the NVFC, supported by the USFA and funded through the Department of Homeland Security and Citizens Corps. Fire Corps' mission is to create resources and foster programs that match citizens with fire and EMS departments who need volunteers to assist with non-emergency tasks. The Fire Corps website, www.firecorps.org, gives fire departments information that they need to make their volunteer programs successful. In conjunction with this, the NVFC and Fire Corps manage 1-800-FIRE-LINE, a national phone number that citizens can call to find emergency volunteer opportunities in their communities.

To find out more about the National Volunteer Fire Council and their other initiatives and fire department assistance programs and resources, please visit www.nvfc.org.