Volunteer View: Volunteer Staffing Can't Put Quantity Before Quality

Recruitment and retention have become buzzwords as of late in the volunteer fire communities, with everyone scratching their head as to how to increase staffing numbers. As we continue to see a decline in the number of volunteer firefighters throughout the United States (down 100,000-plus since 2015), departments have had to work with fewer members and even lowered physical and training standards for those members. Grant money for recruitment, toll-free phone numbers for information to join and gift cards for retention are three of the ideas among many that are being employed to attempt to increase membership. Amid all of these efforts, I find myself asking the question, are we losing focus on more important areas because we are concentrating on numbers, namely quality?

Do the numbers add up?

When speaking with peers in the volunteer community, the regular metric that typically is discussed is total number of members. We rarely discuss individual firefighter statistics, staff numbers per incident, certification levels, or training above and beyond initial certification.

If you ask the general question, is it better to have 10 firefighters on scene of a structure fire or 20, the most common response that you will receive obviously is 20. However, we can’t paint the issue with such a broad stroke. It’s a fact that more is better—when the more are competent and able. However, when we lower the standards for department membership and/or hire members who aren’t cognitively or physically able to do the task(s) that’s required, it’s obvious that quality should be more important than quantity.

In the quest to put more bodies in seats, volunteer departments across the country are losing sight of quality. By operating in this way, we are affecting emergency operations negatively, possibly more severely than having fewer firefighters on scene.

Minimums are subjective

It’s obvious that there is a minimum number of firefighters that’s needed on scene to accomplish operational goals, but to come up with that minimum number, we must recognize that the number is different for every department, and we must know the abilities of the firefighters who are assigned to accomplish the tasks at hand.

As we look at a common task, such as throwing a ladder, I hear regularly in my area that we always should have two people when throwing a 24-foot extension ladder because of safety concerns. Is it great to utilize two firefighters if we have the staffing? Absolutely. Should it be completely acceptable to use one? Yes, because it isn’t unsafe, assuming that the firefighter is trained properly and physically able.

So, this brings up a good point: Is it about having large numbers, or should we just make sure that we adhere to a higher standard for hiring and for developing and implementing training requirements?

Meeting the minimums

Currently, Ohio has a certification level that doesn’t meet NFPA 1001: Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications. The state’s certification is specifically for volunteer firefighters, and it’s based on some NFPA 1001 standards, but it doesn’t meet them in their entirety. (Certification only takes 36 hours to complete.)

To explain, let me begin by saying that many departments utilize this certification as a starting point but require their members to proceed on to Firefighter I—and even, in some cases, Firefighter II—to maintain membership. That said, many departments are comfortable with 36 hours being the only certification that their members achieve. The belief that this is all that their members need is based on three thoughts. First, “It’s the way that it always has been” is a common premise that’s offered up for just about any question that’s asked. Second, the state of Ohio doesn’t mandate anything higher. Third, departments are afraid that requiring new hires—or even longtime members—to dedicate any more of their own time to go to class will turn away potential members. As much as I understand the concerns of the third response, we must hold ourselves to a higher level and not always be comfortable with meeting the minimums.

Once when I was teaching in a “36 hour” course, I had a student voice concerns that the ladder practical, which consisted of a single person removing a ladder from the apparatus, moving the ladder to a structure and placing it according to instructions, was a ridiculous skill test and that it wasn’t safe. He believed that it always should utilize two firefighters. He went on to say that skills such as this only harm a department’s capability to gain members, because the skills are too difficult to pass. After explaining why it was beneficial to be able to complete this skill alone, I asked him a question: If people can’t put up a ladder on their own, do you feel like you can rely on them to back you up, particularly if something goes wrong?

Hard truths

Sometimes, we must ask ourselves the difficult questions. We must recognize and accept that not everyone is cut out to be a firefighter and, although our membership numbers might be low, numbers don’t mean much if members aren’t properly trained, competent and able to do the required tasks. Focusing on making sure that the members who we have and hire are properly trained and prepared is more important than total numbers on paper.

Setting standards purposely low so that everyone can pass doesn’t do anyone any favors, including those individuals who wouldn’t pass if the bar were set higher. We are setting up our departments and their members for failure if we fail to recognize the need for standards enforcement.

Answers

What’s the answer? Increasing membership and having staffing numbers that meet national standards obviously is the end goal for every department, and we never should stray from that. That said, we can’t lose sight of the goal of having all members trained and able to complete all of the tasks that are needed for successful fireground operations.

As volunteer departments, we must remember that just because our departments aren’t staffed with “professional” firefighters doesn’t mean that our departments shouldn’t operate with the utmost professionalism. It shouldn’t mean that they don’t strive to adhere to professional standards. We must set higher standards for required certifications, and we must provide better in-house trainings that are real-world and relevant and are developed utilizing national standards.

We must do a better job with our hiring processes, making sure that the candidates are able to meet the physical and cognitive requirements of the position.

We must utilize automatic and mutual-aid agreements to help with staffing shortfalls, and we can’t permit calling for mutual aid to be a blow to our ego but, rather, that it’s what’s best for not only department operations but for the public’s welfare.

We must be sure that we fill the seats with able, well-trained firefighters and not just warm bodies.