Volunteer Fire Department Staffing, Recruitment, and Retention

2016 Survey Results

October 31, 2018

Impetus

•Assess challenges facing the volunteer fire service Declining rural population as the result of urbanizationAging rural populations

•Commission was looking for another public safety topic

Impetus

Methodology

• Fire department survey was tested in May 2016

•Administered to 841 departments (including career departments) in June through September

•Respondents had the option to complete online (Qualtrics.com) and by submitting paper surveys

•All paper surveys were entered using Qualtrics.com

Response Rates

•Overall response rate: 52%

•Approximate response rates by department type:Volunteer only: 269/643 = 42%Combination: 78/134 = 58%Career only: 53/63= 84%

Respondents

Volunteer Only, 69%

Mostly Volunteer, 14%

Mostly Career, 4%Career Only, 13%

Respondents

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Volunteer only (n=264) Career only (n=49) Mostly volunteer (n=55) Mostly career (n=17)

Volunteer Staffing Average Firefighters Per Department

22.0

29.3

11.8

19.7

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

Volunteer only (n=257) Mostly volunteer (n=55) Mostly career (n=17) Total (n=378)

Volunteer Staffing Staffing Gains/Losses 2007-11 and 2011-15/16

60%

10%

30% 28%

16%

55%

79%

3%

18%23%

13%

64%

90%

10%

0%

36%

9%

55%

64%

9%

27% 28%

15%

57%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Net Loss Even Net Gain Net Loss Even Net Gain

2007-11 (estimated) 2011-15 (estimated)

Volunteer only Mostly volunteer Mostly career Total

Volunteer Staffing

Net Changes 2007-11 and 2011-15/16

-2.5

9.8

-7.9

1.9

-8.7

17.4

-15.4

2.0

-12.8

7.9

-6.7

1.2

-4.0

11.0

-9.1

1.9

-20.0

-15.0

-10.0

-5.0

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

Net change bydepartment

Average joining perdepartment

Average leaving bydepartment

Net change bydepartment

Volunteer only Mostly volunteer Mostly career Total

I____________________I

2007-11 (estimated)I__________________________________________________________________________I

2011-15 (estimated)

Volunteer Recruitment Challenges

61% 60% 62% 61%

28% 29% 31%28%

8%10%

8% 8%

3%0%

8%

2%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Volunteer only Mostly volunteer Mostly career All volunteer-staffed

Major Moderate Minor Not a Challenge at All

Volunteer Recruitment Challenges

• Time demands 94%• Training expectations 87%• Aging communities 48%• Changes in community

makeup 35%• Higher cost of living 24%• Cost of EMR/EMT

certification 22%• Increased call volume 20%

• Change in community expectations for services delivered 20%

• Opportunity for paid firefighter/EMS positions 13%

• Leadership problems 8%

• Internal conflict within organization 7%

• Increased use of combo staffing 5% + Other 12%

Volunteer Retention Challenges

36%

46%

64%

39%36% 35%

21%

35%

25%

19%

7%

23%

4%0% 0%

3%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Volunteer only Mostly volunteer Mostly career All volunteer-staffed

Major Moderate Minor Not a Challenge at All

Volunteer Retention Challenges

• Time demands 95%• Training expectations 85%• Increased call volume 36%• Aging communities 35%• Changes in community

makeup 28%• Change in community

expectations for services delivered 28%• Higher cost of living 24%

• Opportunity for paid firefighter/EMS positions 21%

• Internal conflict within organization 20%

• Cost of EMR/EMT certification 18%

• Leadership problems 16%

• Increased use of combination staffing 9% + Other 10%

Other Staffing ChallengesMedian Firefighter Ages14-18

years

old

(Cadet)

19-29

years

old

Between

19-29 and

30-39

30-39

years old

Between

30-39 and

40-49

40-49

years old

Between

40-49 and

50+

50 years

old and

older

Volunteer only (n=246) 2% 9% 3% 44% 5% 31% 1% 4%

Mostly volunteer (n=47) 0% 8% 2% 48% 2% 35% 0% 2%

Mostly career (n=15) 0% 7% 0% 47% 13% 33% 0% 0%

All volunteer-staffed

(n=312) 1% 9% 3% 45% 5% 32% 1% 4%

Other Staffing ChallengesAvailability by Time of Day

• Less than 4 average turnout by time of dayWeekdays 8:00-4:00 pm 34%Weekdays 4:00 pm – Midnight 7% (Mostly career

departments 29%)Weekday Midnight -8:00 am 15% (Mostly career

departments 29%)Weekends 6%

Other Staffing ChallengesCompletion of Annual Training Expectations

25%

12%

25%

26%

36%

24%

31%

39%

32%

47%

36%

31%

6%

18%

7%

5%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

All volunteer staffed

Mostly career

Mostly volunteer

Volunteer only

50% or less 51-75% 76-99% 100%

Related Challenges

Funding

Responses to ChallengesPaying Volunteers

Volunteer

only

departments

(n=94)

Mostly

volunteer

departments

(n=36)

Mostly

career

departments

(n=10)

Total

volunteer-

staffed

departments

(n=140)

Paid by call 44% 69% 60% 51%

Paid by the hour 17% 36% 50% 24%

Paid for training time 21% 47% 40% 29%

Officer stipend 28% 28% 30% 28%

Reward system 18% 19% 10% 18%

Other - Pay by month, semi-annual, year 10% 0% 10% 7%

Other-Other 14% 6% 10% 1%

Responses to ChallengesAdding Full-or-Part-Time Staff

Full-time

career

Part-time

career

Paid

volunteer

Unpaid

volunteer

Volunteer only (N=253)N/A N/A 38% 66%

Mostly volunteer (N=56)77% 50% 75% 32%

Mostly career (N=17)100% 47% 82% 29%

Total volunteer staffed (N=326)18% 11% 46% 58%

Responses to ChallengesAverage Staffing

Full time

career*

Part Time

career*

Paid

volunteer*

Unpaid

volunteer*

Total

Volunteer onlyN/A N/A 21.4 21.8 22.3

Mostly volunteer6.0 7.4 29.4 21.6 37.3

Mostly career24.3 23.3 11.3 8.4 47.0

Total volunteer

staffed 11.2 10.9 22.7 21.4 26.2

Responses to ChallengesVolunteer/Career

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Volunteer only (n=264) Mostly volunteer (n=55) Career only (n=49) Mostly career (n=17)

Responses to ChallengesMenu of Additional Options

• Interlocal cooperation

• Addressing training gaps

• Recruitment and retention Marketing

Recruiting women and minorities

Recruiting cadets and young adults

Incentives tailored to target groups

Using volunteers for other tasks (financial reports, fundraising, etc.)

Personal invitations

• Recruitment and retention (cont.)

Addressing fire department politics

Rightsizing call outs (selective paging, etc.)

Climate/exit surveys

Communicating with stakeholders (elected officials, citizens)

Effective membership committee

Flexibility in timing of joining and commitment

Good communication between officers and members

What Else? What’s Next

• Volunteer report in early 2019 Also includes data about capabilities (training and equipment)

• Collected GIS data on service boundaries Maps

Working to be able to share the data with IDHS

• Present other data Department types

Career department data

Independent EMS agencies data