Volunteerism is dropping for emergency responders, and it is affecting how emergency services can be provided to local communities. Looking for reasons why volunteerism is dropping and what options are available for these volunteer companies and communities in order for them to effectively continue protecting the people and property within their communities is very important to me. If local fire companies no longer exist, how are people in the community going to be protected? In addition to fire suppression, firefighters are called on to assist with numerous other situations including auto accidents, downed wires, flooding, emergency medical service, hazmat incidents, and various rescue operations. There is simply not enough money to fund career fire departments for every community. Even in the …show more content…
Just before I joined the fire company, both Morton Fire Company and Rutledge Fire Company were two separate companies, but they physically were less than one mile apart. Due to lack of funding and volunteers, it was decided by both the companies and their communities that it would be economically advantageous to merge these two fire companies. However, many of the older, more experienced volunteers were not happy with the merger. They felt resentment for losing their beloved neighborhood fire company. Even though the names of each company were combined into the new fire company, the discontented feelings could not be overcome. As a result, many volunteers left the newly joined fire company resulting in a lack of volunteers to service both communities. As a young teenager in a newly united fire company, I did not understand why this union had to take place in the first place. As an adult, I am concerned about the decrease in local volunteer fire companies and how they are going to be able to continue to provide emergency services for their
Markets are not the best way to achieve a just society. They often allow the wealthy to have more freedoms and greater opportunities.
Volunteer fire departments everywhere have staffing problems. If you take a drive past any fire department you will probably see a volunteers needed sign. A fire chief in Pennsylvania stated “I would like to have a greater turnout of firefighters on scene than what we currently have,” he said. “We have a lack of volunteers who are able to respond during daytime hours” (Shawgo, 2014, p. 17). There are several reason that there is not as good of a turnout as there used to be. Back in the 1970s and 1980s the thing to do in town was to hang out at the fire house. There was not as much going on as there is today. People today want to spend more time with their family and go out to the movies or mini golfing, things that family’s did not do as much back in the day. The average amount of training that a volunteer must go through is about 130 hours. Most people see that as too much time to sacrifice. Also, in today’s economy many people work a second or even third job in order to make ends meet. There are also more single parent households then there used to be, which does not allow for hardly any time to volunteer. Due to the reasons stated above it is very difficult to properly staff fire trucks in volunteer departments. The average age of members continues to increase. The few people left who still find time to volunteer often work a regular job during the day, which makes day time emergency calls even harder to respond to with proper staffing. The typical fire truck holds 6
I love the idea of providing students with a variety of opportunities that would satisfy each student's needs. Whether its research, volunteering and community service, it all is provided here. The curriculum also allows for a great amount of flexibility enabling students to pursue these other interest that would make them very competitive for residencies. I have a great interest in practicing in underserved communities upon graduation, therefore every opportunity I get to volunteer in clinics and shadow physician in underserved regions is something I look forward to here at Western University of Health Sciences. Likewise, the diverse student body is great as each student come from various backgrounds and have unique experiences all of which
The struggles of the City of San Bernardino, California are well documented; one of the highest crime rates in the state and the country, extensive acres of urban blight, a median household income under forty-thousand, which has left residents living in poverty, a cash insolvency as a result of mismanagement, which has left the City in chapter nine bankruptcy for three and a half years, and a political climate distorted from lack of experience, and conflicting ideologies and agendas. Also well documented is the strained relationship of between the City and the Unions that represent its employees. Most notably the firefighter’s union, which has sued the City on numerous occasions over pension, overtime and overall work conditions. As part of the City’s plan to exit bankruptcy the firefighters will be annexed into San Bernardino county fire. This moves makes it that much more important for the City and the union to resolve its differences for the good of the firefighters.
volunteering is important in the public sector because it helps the public services save money other than the military as the military reservists get paid but it is still voluntary. I got all my information from the websites which are for the organisation. the benefits of volunteering are:
Over the past couple of years, our small city of Granbury has seen a drastic spike in population. This recent growth has not only caused an unemployment crisis, but it also has influenced a greater risk of devastating fires for both homes and businesses. However, if the city of Granbury were to adopt full time fire departments, all citizens and businesses would benefit in numerous aspects. By adopting these full time departments, it is clear that our cities proficiency, productivity, and safety will increase greatly. There is a little over 400 volunteer firefighters at seven departments spread across Granbury. This not only means that these hard working heros do not receive a paycheck for their excruciating efforts, but it also reveals that these 400 firefighters are not stationed at their departments which indicates they must travel to the station to be able to then respond to a call causing a slow response time; opposed to career departments that always have their stations manned which is proven to generate a quicker response time. Not only do these full time departments ensure proper response times to emergencies, but they will also correspond with companies insurance codes which allow their franchises to be opened in cities only with these career departments. Many companies such as Target, Academy, Olive Garden, Main Event, etc… all require professional fire departments for their stores to be built in that city. Also, the lack of recreational opportunities prevent social
Many people are not getting the right service because of lack of money. Police and fire department staff are suffering the consequences of shortage of money, yet this is affecting the whole communities because when there are more personnel emergency response is
In 2012 I joined the Harlan Fire Department continuing my long standing commitment to my community as a volunteer firefighter EMT. As a member of the fire department I respond to many different types of calls. Some of these calls include but are not limited to wildland fires, structure fires, car accidents, and medical calls. As an active member I was qualified as a Firefighter/EMT, confined space rescue technician, and technical rope rescue technician. We have a wide range of equipment ranging from type one to type six engines, a heavy rescue truck, UTV, and a 75' ladder truck. With the equipment and training I was a part of a successful grain bin rescue saving the life of one local farmer and part of a successful rescue of a trapped
“Who you gonna call? Ghost Busters” (Brillstein & Reitman, 1984). In 1984, a very popular comedy movie “Ghostbusters” hit the big screen and this quote from the movie seemed to stick in everyone’s head. Today, the question that seems to be raised when there is a crisis or emergency situation is “Who you gonna call? The fire department”. In today’s society, the fire service has become the “catchall” for every kind of emergency. Do you agree? Fighting fire is still a big part of the fire service, “in 2015, every twenty-three seconds a fire department was responding to a fire” (NFPA (Ed.), 2015). However, the fire service has evolved from just “putting the wet stuff on the red stuff” mentality, to a profession of highly trained and skilled firefighters. Ever since the discovery of fire there has been a need for methods to manage it if, and when, it gets out of control. Throughout history, to keep up with the changing environment in which we live, civilization and the fire service have made numerous changes. With fewer fires, and more products being manufactured from plastics and other dangerous chemicals, the fire service must be vigilant in developing new methods to keep firefighters safe and justify their job while providing the most efficient service for the citizens.
Fire Chief Rick Pavick gave me insight about general information related to the Texarkana, AR fire department. According to Chief Pavick, there are 57 full-time firefighters, however they are still understaffed by 16 at this time. The fires in this community is low in all categories but more house fires occur and is the primary concern. The average response time is 5 minutes on average. There is not a central water supply but there are fire hydrants. The Insurance Services Office (ISO) fire rating is a 5 for this community. The community’s low support for the department financially is related to the community not being aware of the needs of the fire department. The department does offer fire prevention education for the community and adequate
The world is changing every single day. The communities change and so do the community services. This paper looks at what the future looks like for Houston Fire Department. The discussion looks at the situation in the past, at the moment and tries to forecast the future Fire Department. In order to project how the department will look like in the next twenty years, it is important to take stock of past developments in the firefighting industry in general and Houston Fire Department in specific.
Countless tornadoes touch down every year here in America. On rare occasions, the tornado rips right through the middle of a city. Immediately after the dust has settled, help is on the way. National Guard troops are sent in to bring water, food, and provide help wherever they can find it. Neighbors help each other look for missing people and console one another. Fires also are inevitable to pop up in the desert and mountain areas during the summer months. In these situations, firefighters are the ones who help a lot. Most firefighters are volunteers and have the choice to not even help at all. But they know that they are doing the right thing helping people that really need it. In all these instances where the earth is cruel to its people, forms of help will always
The volunteer noticed no direct oppression or discrimination from workers though due to the low participation of females and ethnic, aboriginal or GLBTI peoples, the determination was rendered inconclusive. The program on Monday is predominantly white Australian males thus unofficially labeled the men’s group by staff. Conversely, the volunteer noticed the limitations in the programs resources, such as funding and realised that the limitation was possibly due to the systemic oppression and discrimination compounded by a complaisant/docile acceptance and an apathetic outlook by staff and participants (Allan, Pease, Briskman 2003; Chenoweth and McAuliffe 2012).
This research is being conducted to investigate volunteer motivation, satisfactions and dissatisfactions. As is stated by Becsi et al (2008), much of the literature in the social sciences focuses on predicting volunteering behaviour with underlying theories of resources availability.
However, I believe that with the help of special interest groups and advocates speaking with representatives that with enough movement the issue can be discussed. Another major issue that may arise once there is a requirement for departments to incorporate a health and wellness is compliance. However, I feel like this was a similar challenge that was a concern when NIMS was enforced to create interoperability. Like the NIMS implementation I believe that creating a more firefighter focused fire service will be supported by enough departments that it can be successful carried out. The last obstacle that may occur is funding grants for firefighter survival training. To overcome this challenge there may need to be a change of focus in funding opportunities in the emergency services to support the betterment of those serving the communities around the