First Published 3/23/03
Many of you know that I draw from my experiences and training as a member of a volunteer fire department. That is especially true when dealing with the problems and the issues that face the small, rural volunteer organizations that are indicative of the majority of our nation’s fire departments.
I have no difficulties in exchanging thoughts and ideas with career firefighters and am quite comfortable when around them. I must admit that I love to sit and listen to the career men and women relate their experiences because many will answer more calls in a 30 day period than a lot of volunteer departments will answer in a year! It is not my intentions here to start a vollie/career debate; but to merely point out that, though our core values and goals are the same, our problems are distinctly different. Two that come to mind are recruitment and retention. That is what we will explore from the volunteer perspective.
Not long ago, we discovered in our department that there seemed to be a core group of officers and veterans that gave a disproportionately larger number of hours-i.e. effort to the department than the others. I felt that it was important to send a strong message to the others in order to strengthen their commitment. So, what I did was; at a monthly meeting, I pulled out all of the officers and anyone with more than ten years on the department and asked them to leave the room. That left thirteen in the room. What I asked them next was; if this was your core group, who would be your officers? I had them “elect” a chief, assistant chief, captains and lieutenants. It produced some very interesting results. Ironically, the “chief” that they elected is now a lieutenant with the department. It would not surprise to see him as chief somewhere down the road.
So, we had their attention on the issue of not relying on the fact that the veterans and officers as they knew them would always be around. They had to start preparing NOW for the future of the fire department. Then, I had to tackle the issue of the “perceived” constraints on everyone’s time. It is not a problem that is ours alone but is one that is shared throughout the nation. It can destroy departments and here’s why:
For the past several years, volunteer fire departments have been hit with an almost apathetic attitude in their communities when it comes to recruiting and retaining new firefighters. I don’t have the time has become the mantra of young, able-bodied men and women who, when approached by their fire department will tell them in short order that they don’t have the time. If they do join the department, they will only give you what time they feel is left over from their very hectic schedule and life style. I believe that selfish has replaced selfless in today’s society.
Not long ago, my fire department had a few members who were well below the average for training hours, stating that they didn’t have the time. I decided to take a pragmatic look at it, for I have always held that if it is important to you, you will MAKE time. I also wanted to make certain that I wasn’t being overly critical of our younger members.
In a calendar year, there are (8,760) hours. From that, I will subtract as many time-consuming activities that come to mind on a daily basis during the year. Here goes.
Most of us will work (2080) hours at our regular jobs in a year’s time. I will credit everyone with (80) hours a year in vacation time. I will even give you another (40) hours a year for sick time. If you work for my company, you get (9) paid holidays a year for another (72) hours. We have to sleep, don’t we? Of course we do, so you all get (8) hours a night for a total of (2920) hours a year. Hey, we have to eat sometime. Most of us go through the drive-up for breakfast, but I will still give you a (1/2) hour for breakfast, a (1/2) hour for lunch and (1) hour for dinner everyday for the entire year. That adds up to another (730) hours. You get a night out every week to go to pool league, bowling, darts, canasta; whatever personal recreation you enjoy. You get (5) hours for it-remember, you have work tomorrow-and that’s (260) hours just for you! Church activities earn you another (208) hours. School activities twice a week will total (260) hours a year. Time with your spouse-that’s quality time-is good for (10) hours a week for (520) a year. Keep in mind that this time is for the two of you together, in the same place at the same time with no one else around. No; bedtime is not in these hours. Single folks get more recreation time, if they choose. What are we up to so far? Don’t tell me. You probably belong to another organization such as Lions, Shriners, Masons, school board, village board, church board and that is another (3) hour meeting each week for a total of (156) hours. Now, let’s see what we have for a total. (7326) hours! According to my math, that leaves (1434) hours. Under my plan, you’ll get an outdoor activity each week for a yearly total of (416) hours. Do relatives “drop” in once in a while? I’ll assume every other week for a total (104) hours yearly. You’re probably taking classes one night a week for (4) hours, so that figures out to (208) hours a year. Have I missed anything? Probably, but I have left some flex in this scenario and have been more than liberal out of fairness. The total hours stand at (8054), leaving (706) hours for other activities. What about the fire department? If yours is like mine, you want (100) hours a year out of your members. That includes training and fundraising. You are left with (606) hours to do with as you would like!
Still believe that you don’t have time for the fire department? Granted, fire calls will come at all hours of the day or night and will undoubtedly interrupt some of your other “scheduled” activities, but you have that (606)-hour cushion that you can tap into.
Just think about all of the time that we waste on gratuitous activities; on activities that add nothing to our communities’ quality of life. For (100) hours a year, you get immeasurable satisfaction in learning skills that will help you to help others. I don’t see a down side! And besides; has TV really been that good lately?
You can join the millions of couch potatoes in this country or you can join a dedicated group of public servants who can make a difference when the call for help comes in.
I’ll tape it and watch when I have the time. Right now, I need to go to the fire station for a training session. It’ll take some time, but according to my math, I have plenty of it! What’s your excuse?
The article as submitted is published under The Adventures of Jake and Vinnie© umbrella and is the intellectual property of Art Goodrich a.k.a. xchief22 and ChiefReason. It is protected by federal copyright laws and cannot be re-printed in any form without expressed permission from the author.
Also on Chief Reason …
- Who Represents YOU? – May 18, 2009
- Is It Complacency or Lack of Work? – March 11, 2009
- Florida City Manager Battles Volunteers – March 8, 2010
- Should I Stay or Should I Go? – July 15, 2010
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