Podcast script

Firefighter Retention

One problem that plagues volunteer and combination fire departments around the country is retention of members.  I am here to give you some tips that will let potential candidates make an educated decision and have a realistic view of what is involved with becoming a firefighter.

The way I like to start out is to form a committee of  3 firefighters of various levels to conduct the interviews.  Keep them short and to the point and conduct them as more of an orientation.

With that being said I like to present the candidate with the statistics of the department and initial training process.  Such as:

·       We have approximately 500 calls a year

·       65% of our calls are medical in nature

·       3% are actual fire calls

·       20% are false alarms

·       12% are other calls such as hazmat car accidents CO2 alarms and such

So very little of our time is actually fighting fires.

·       It Takes around $2500 of the tax payers dollars to get you your initial training

·       You have to commit about 150 hours of your time for that initial training

So it is a significant investment on everyone’s part and that does not include any continueing education.

·       You must participate in 2 3 hour trainings a month

·       You must respond to at least 10% of the calls

This paints a realistic picture of what it is all about.  Some think we are heroes and we just go rushing in to fight fires all day long, in fact it is a lot of training and little fire action.  I follow this up with a station tour, question and answer session and let them know that I will follow up in a couple of days to make sure they are serious about making the commitment.  Our department has shown improved success on retention since this implementation.  Good luck and always be safe.