volunteer fire department recruitment ideas

Take a holistic view of your entire application process, from initial contact through swearing in. This can impact on that other valuable commodity - having enough volunteers who will enjoy and continue to do the job well. Fire loss is a national loss.

We're updating this guide to provide volunteer fire departments with proven, successful strategies for recruitment and retention of personnel. You’re going to have to do a little work to recruit new people.

The event planning tool in the department portal provides ideas to inspire departments to design their own recruitment event. The form should be simple, with a few fillable fields for contact information. It was cited by the University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics Is the application the most appropriate place to collect this information?Are questions redundant (i.e. volunteer fire department.

Time is also valuable.

I wanted to get some ideas of how other VFD's handle this growing issue? time within a volunteer fire department that the leadership may not have enough of it to focus on maintaining a solid volunteer recruitment and retention program. Chances are, this won’t be effortless, but it is crucial. We value your privacy. Among leadership, recruitment and retention classes sponsored by the program was a cadet program which introduced fourteen and fifteen years old into the fire service through a six-day camp. The content area includes an introduction and tabs which can display upcoming events, news or anything else you see fit. Often, volunteer fire departments have a successful initial meeting or two with a prospective member and then provide them with a laundry list of requirements they must take care of on their own, including documentation, medical exam, background check, driving record, etc., and are only permitted to return once complete. Invitations can be customized with your event information, department logo, and the graphics/message of your choice.Don’t let interested individuals fall through the cracks due to a lack of communication. Put up these signs outside your department, and ask if you can post flyers in other places like local businesses, community centers and public libraries.Maybe a high school art class can help you design eye-catching flyers to help you recruit volunteer firefighters. Simplify Volunteer Fire Department Application. Fire Prevention is our Intention. Calls for service are more complex and time consuming. There are even more benefits to that approach—those high schoolers just might decide to volunteer in a couple years, and you’re making great community connections.Have people come visit your fire department, and make it seem welcoming to newcomers. Ask a friend or colleague outside the fire service to review and provide feedback on your fire department’s application.Consider reformatting so that essential information is grouped together on the first page of the application. If you don’t have a well-staffed firehouse with trained and experienced volunteers, you won’t be able to serve your community very well. Is this something your fire company is struggling with? In fact, the U.S. Fire Administration, as far back as the 1990s, made a concerted effort to assist volunteer fire departments with recruitment, retention and finances with the publications “Recruitment and Retention of Volunteer Firefighters” and “Alternative Finances for Fire and EMS.” Several factors also enter in to the lack of a corresponding increase in volunteer firefighters. Is the volunteer firefighter recruitment process also under review?

Keeping current with trends, research, and best practices can help your department craft a comprehensive recruitment and retention strategy. But they will help reverse the trend of declining volunteer firefighters and you can begin implementing them today. This is not a new problem. Recruitment & Retention ... but these lists will give you some good ideas to start. requiring name on every page)?Is terminology consistent and without acronyms across pages?If you’ve been involved in firefighting for many years, this may be difficult. Ottawa Fire Services accepts volunteer firefighter applications and keep them on file pending the filling of vacancies. This fire department website design template features a top menu, homepage slider and sidebar.