- Author
-
Scott, G.
|
Buchanan, E.
|
Windisch, F.
|
Holman, T.
|
Fulmer, D.
|
Curl, L.
|
Buckman, J. M., III
|
Ray, S.
|
Wilson, M.
- Title
- Leading the Transition in Volunteer and Combination Fire Departments. Lighting the Path of Evolution: The Red Ribbon Report.
- Coporate
- Campbell County FD Gillette, WY
Hanover County Fire and EMS Hanover, VA
Ponderosa VFD Houston, TX
German Township Fire and EMS Springfield, OH
Miami Township FD Miamisburg, OH
VCOS Chair Indianapolis, IN
German Township VFD Evansville, IN
Pleasant View VFD Pleasant View, TN
Midlothian VFD Midlothian, VA
- Report
-
Red Ribbon Report,
November 2005,
40 p.
- Keywords
-
fire departments
|
fire protection
- Abstract
- Nearly 300 million people live in the United States today and the number keeps growing. Many areas of the country that traditionally have relied on citizen volunteers to provide fire protection and emergency medical services are finding fewer people available or willing to carry on the honorable tradition. The demand for service grows and the number of providers declines. How are communities' needs to be met? Finding the answer to that question is one of the most daunting challenges facing local governments and fire service leaders all across the country. What is the appropriate level and menu of emergency services to be offered in the community? How do we assure that those services are delivered reliably? If not by volunteers, then by whom? It's an issue of considerable national and local importance. As the March 2004 Blue Ribbon Report by the Volunteer and Combination Officers Section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs noted, of the 26,354 fire departments in the country, about three-quarters of them that serve 19,224 communities are staffed by volunteers. The balance - and these numbers have been rising as more departments are unable to provide adequate services using only volunteers - includes 4,892 departments that operate with a combination of compensated and volunteer staffing and 2,238 that are fully staffed by paid personnel. The 800,000 volunteer firefighters who today protect large areas of America number ten percent fewer than 20 years ago. Why the decline?