Retention and Recruitment for the Volunteer Emergency Services

introduction
The volunteer emergency services are a long-standing tradition in the United States that
often encompass families generation after generation. Unfortunately, it is also a
tradition in danger of weakening. Many fire departments across the Nation today are
experiencing more difficulty with recruiting and retaining members than ever before.
Although there has been a decline in the number of active volunteer firefighters nationally
from a high of 897,750 in 1984, the trend has changed in the last few years. The number
of volunteers dipped to a low of 770,100 volunteers in 1989. While the number has
increased since then, the problem of recruitment and retention is still serious in many
areas. The most recent figures (2003) indicate over 800,050 volunteer firefighters,
73 percent of the Nation’s firefighting forces.
Fire departments can no longer count on the children of current members following in
their parent’s footsteps. Nor can they count on a continuous stream of community people
eager to donate their time and energy to their local volunteer fire department. Adding
to the problem, departments cannot rely on members staying active in the volunteer fire
service for long periods of time.
In order to address recruitment and retention problems, the National Volunteer Fire Council
(NVFC), in cooperation with the United States Fire Administration (USFA), initiated a
study of this issue that cumulated with a national workshop on recruiting and retention in
1993. Volunteer representatives from 16 States participated in this event, which was held
at the USFA’s National Fire Academy (NFA) on the grounds of the National Emergency
Training Cener (NETC) in Emmitsburg, Maryland. From this workshop came a general
understanding of the problems with retention and recruitment nationwide, as well as many
possible solutions to these problems. The findings were documented in the “Interim Report
on Retention and Recruitment in the Volunteer Fire Service: Problems and Solutions” and
in “Recruitment and Retention in the Volunteer Fire Service, Problems and Solutions, Final
Report, December 1998.”
In 2004, the NVFC released its “Cost Savings Study and Calculator.” The figures in the
study reinforce the need for the volunteer fire service to increase its efforts in recruitment
and retention of members. The Cost Savings Study conducted by the Public Safety and
Environmental Protection Institute at St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
with assistance from VFIS found that the annual national savings resulting from the
volunteer fire service is $37.2 billion. This is an average of over $45,000 per volunteer. The
economy of this great country is substantially strengthened by the efforts of its volunteer
fire departments.
In 2004, the NVFC and the USFA again decided to address the issue of retention and
recruitment due to the ongoing national problem. This endeavor includes much of the
earlier work, a review of recent literature, and a field survey to determine current initiatives
that are in use and working in the field.