NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 12
Dispatches
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
CULTURE
CLASH
A NEW REPORT SHEDS LIGHT ON WHY
VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENTS STRUGGLE
TO RECRUIT AND RETAIN MEMBERS,
AND REVEALS DISCONNECTS RELATED TO
DEPARTMENT CULTURE AND LEADERSHIP
By Angelo Verzoni
wo-thirds of the United States'
roughly 1.1 million firefighters are
volunteers. They're a critical component of public safety for millions
of Americans living mostly in small,
rural communities. In some of these areas, the
local volunteer fire department is the only access
residents have to medical care for many miles.
Despite the importance of the US volunteer
fire service, volunteer recruitment and retention
has been steadily decreasing for the past three
decades. Volunteer rates have dropped from a
high of 8.05 volunteers per 1,000 people in 1987
to a low of 5.8 in 2017, according to the 2018 US
Fire Department Profile report published by
NFPA in February. It's a complex issue fueled by
many factors. Demographic shifts in the country
are in part to blame, with statistics showing more
Americans leaving rural areas to live in big cities
over the past 20 years. The percentage of people
living in rural areas in 2000 had dropped by
T
about two points by 2010, according to the latest
US Census data.
In an NFPA Journal Podcast that aired in February, John Montes, then an emergency services
specialist at NFPA, described the shortage of
emergency medical technicians in rural America-but the same factors are driving shortages
of volunteer firefighters. "There's just not enough
people," Montes said. "Prior to this shift ... you
saw more population in those areas, so there
was more capacity for these volunteer services
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NFPA Journal - November/December 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - November/December 2020
Contents
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Cover1
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Cover2
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 1
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 2
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 3
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Contents
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 5
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 6
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 7
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 8
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 9
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 10
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 11
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 12
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 13
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 14
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 15
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 16
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 17
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 18
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 19
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 20
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 21
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 22
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 23
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 24
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 25
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 26
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 27
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 28
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 29
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 30
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 31
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 32
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 33
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 34
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 35
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 36
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 37
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 38
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 39
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 40
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 41
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 42
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 43
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 44
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 45
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 46
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 47
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 48
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 49
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 50
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 51
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 52
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 53
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 54
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 55
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 56
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 57
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 58
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 59
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 60
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 61
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 62
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 63
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 64
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 65
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 66
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 67
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 68
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 69
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 70
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 71
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 72
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 73
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 74
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 75
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 76
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 77
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 78
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 79
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 80
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Cover3
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Cover4
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