Abstract

Volunteer Workforce Solutions: Recruiting and Retaining Volunteer Firefighters
Track: Fire, Rescue, and EMS
Authors: Shawn Stokes, Sharon Baroncelli

It is expensive to recruit, train, and retain volunteer firefighters. The Volunteer Workforce Solutions study sponsored by the Virginia Fire Chiefs Association (VFCA) is based on the premise that a detailed community-level profile of existing firefighters will provide valuable information to better identify the types of people who would be good candidates for the volunteer fire service. In addition, the analysis attempts to identify where future volunteers can be found and the best practices to communicate with and recruit them. Esri's TapestryT Segmentation system and Esri's Business Analyst Desktop were used to conduct the community analysis.

This paper presents the methodology used with 20 communities in Virginia to identify the best locations for recruitment and the development of recommended recruitment activities. It is hoped that the methodologies applied in this study can be duplicated across the nation to make volunteer firefighter recruiting more cost effective and successful.