Volunteer Firefighter Recruiting and Retention

Volunteer Firefighters

Numerous studies from various organizations record the substantial decrease in volunteerism. The volunteer fire service is no exception to this downward trend. Through this study, we will try to determine why people volunteer in the fire service, methods that work in recruiting, and also methods for retaining membership. Through this study, we are trying to determine what are the most effective methods for recruiting and retaining volunteer firefighters.
Although the survey can be completed anonymously, as an incentive for completing the survey, three randomly selected firefighters will receive a $250 gift certificate to The FireStore (http://www.thefirestore.com/), and the department with the highest percentage of members responding, will receive a $500 gift certificate to The Firestore. The survey will be open until August 31, 2016. Results of this study will be formulated into a paper for publication.
There are 43 questions, that will take you approximately 10 minutes to answer. The survey must be completed in its entirety to be eligible for prizes.

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* 1. Is your fire department?

All volunteer

A combination department

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* 2. Is your fire department

Fire only

Fire and Emergency Medical Services

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* 3. In what year was your fire department formed?

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* 4. In previous years, has your department ever merged or consolidated? If yes, go to Question 5, if No, skip to question 6

Yes

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* 5. In what year did your department merge or consolidate?

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* 6. In what State is your fire department located?

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* 7. In what County is your fire department located?

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* 8. What is the population served by your fire department?

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* 9. What percentage of your populations is:

	0-20%	21-40%	41-60%	61-80%	81-100%
Rural	Rural 0-20%	Rural 21-40%	Rural 41-60%	Rural 61-80%	Rural 81-100%
Suburban	Suburban 0-20%	Suburban 21-40%	Suburban 41-60%	Suburban 61-80%	Suburban 81-100%
Urban	Urban 0-20%	Urban 21-40%	Urban 41-60%	Urban 61-80%	Urban 81-100%

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* 10. What is the approximate number of calls your fire department response to each year?

0-100

101-249

250-499

500-749

750-999

1000+

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* 11. What percentage of your calls are:

	0-20%	21-40%	41-60%	61-80%	81-100%
Emergency in your first due area	Emergency in your first due area 0-20%	Emergency in your first due area 21-40%	Emergency in your first due area 41-60%	Emergency in your first due area 61-80%	Emergency in your first due area 81-100%
Non-emergency in your first due area	Non-emergency in your first due area 0-20%	Non-emergency in your first due area 21-40%	Non-emergency in your first due area 41-60%	Non-emergency in your first due area 61-80%	Non-emergency in your first due area 81-100%
Mutual aid	Mutual aid 0-20%	Mutual aid 21-40%	Mutual aid 41-60%	Mutual aid 61-80%	Mutual aid 81-100%
Emergency Medical Service	Emergency Medical Service 0-20%	Emergency Medical Service 21-40%	Emergency Medical Service 41-60%	Emergency Medical Service 61-80%	Emergency Medical Service 81-100%

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* 12. On a MONTHLY basis, please rate how often your fire department response to the following types of calls:

	Less than 1	1-4	5-9	10+
House Fires	House Fires Less than 1	House Fires 1-4	House Fires 5-9	House Fires 10+
Other structural fires	Other structural fires Less than 1	Other structural fires 1-4	Other structural fires 5-9	Other structural fires 10+
Grass/wildland fires	Grass/wildland fires Less than 1	Grass/wildland fires 1-4	Grass/wildland fires 5-9	Grass/wildland fires 10+
Auto accident	Auto accident Less than 1	Auto accident 1-4	Auto accident 5-9	Auto accident 10+
Medical emergencies	Medical emergencies Less than 1	Medical emergencies 1-4	Medical emergencies 5-9	Medical emergencies 10+
Automatic Fire Alarms	Automatic Fire Alarms Less than 1	Automatic Fire Alarms 1-4	Automatic Fire Alarms 5-9	Automatic Fire Alarms 10+
Carbon Monoxide alarms	Carbon Monoxide alarms Less than 1	Carbon Monoxide alarms 1-4	Carbon Monoxide alarms 5-9	Carbon Monoxide alarms 10+
Mutual Aid	Mutual Aid Less than 1	Mutual Aid 1-4	Mutual Aid 5-9	Mutual Aid 10+
Vehicle Fires	Vehicle Fires Less than 1	Vehicle Fires 1-4	Vehicle Fires 5-9	Vehicle Fires 10+
Utility problems	Utility problems Less than 1	Utility problems 1-4	Utility problems 5-9	Utility problems 10+
Other types of emergencies	Other types of emergencies Less than 1	Other types of emergencies 1-4	Other types of emergencies 5-9	Other types of emergencies 10+

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* 13. What is the approximate number of active members in your fire department?

0-20

21-50

51-80

81-100

101+

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* 14. How do you define active member status?

Attends more than a certain percentage of calls

Attends more than a certain number of hours of training

Attends a certain number of meetings

A combination of the above

Other

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* 15. Of the members of your fire department, how many do you consider to be active volunteers?

0-20%

21-40%

41-60%

61-80%

81-100%

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* 16. Was there ever a time when your fire department did not have enough members to respond to a call?

Yes, Go to Question 17

No, Go to question 18

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* 17. If you answered Yes to Question 16, approximately how many times per month does this happen?

1-4

5-9

10+

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* 18. If you do not have enough volunteers responders to provide coverage 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, how many more would you need to provide this level of service?

0-10

11-20

21+

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* 19. How old are you?

Less than 18

18-21

22-26

27-35

36+

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* 20. How old were you when you joined the volunteer fire service?

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* 21. Do you volunteer with any non-fire service agencies?

Yes, Go to Question 22

No, Go to Question 23

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* 22. If you answered Yes to Question 21, with what other agencies/organizations do you volunteer?

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* 23. What is your gender?

Male

Female

Do not wish to disclose

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* 24. What is the highest level of education you achieved?

Some High School

High School diploma or GED

Some College

Associate's Degree

Technical/ Trade school degree

Bachelor's degree

Graduate level degree

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* 25. What is the status of your employment (Choose all that apply)

Full-time

Part-time

Self-employed

Disabled

Unemployed

Retired

Student

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* 26. What category best describes what you do for a living? (Choose all that apply)

Managerial or Professional

Technical, sales and administrative support

Service, farming, forestry, fishing, precision production, craft adn repair

Operators, fabricators and laborers

Other

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* 27. Do you consider yourself to be an active volunteer?

Yes

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* 28. How many hours of in-house training do you complete Annually

0-10

11-20

21-40

41-60

61+

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* 29. How many hours of outside training do you complete Annually

0-10

11-20

21-40

41-60

61+

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* 30. How many certificates do you have (EMT, Firefighter I, Haz mat, Water Rescue, etc.)

0-5

6-10

11-15

16+

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* 31. How many of your fire department's calls do you respond to Annually?

0-20%

21-40%

41-60%

61-80%

81-100%

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* 32. Have you ever considered no longer volunteering as a firefighter?

Yes

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* 33. How many hours a month do you spend fundraising?

0-5

6-9

10-20

20+

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* 34. How many meetings do you attend every month for your fire department

0-5

6-9

10+

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* 35. Have you ever recruited a new member for your fire department?

Yes, go to Question 36

No, Go to Question 37

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* 36. Who did you recruit?

Friend

Family Member

Other

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* 37. To what degree do you think the following issues contribute to turnover in your fire department?

	Very often	Often	Rarely	Not applicable
Laws	Laws Very often	Laws Often	Laws Rarely	Laws Not applicable
Boredom	Boredom Very often	Boredom Often	Boredom Rarely	Boredom Not applicable
Time Committment	Time Committment Very often	Time Committment Often	Time Committment Rarely	Time Committment Not applicable
Threat of Injury or death	Threat of Injury or death Very often	Threat of Injury or death Often	Threat of Injury or death Rarely	Threat of Injury or death Not applicable
Training requirements	Training requirements Very often	Training requirements Often	Training requirements Rarely	Training requirements Not applicable
Personality conflicts	Personality conflicts Very often	Personality conflicts Often	Personality conflicts Rarely	Personality conflicts Not applicable
Age or health-related issues	Age or health-related issues Very often	Age or health-related issues Often	Age or health-related issues Rarely	Age or health-related issues Not applicable
Other (Family, social activities, work)	Other (Family, social activities, work) Very often	Other (Family, social activities, work) Often	Other (Family, social activities, work) Rarely	Other (Family, social activities, work) Not applicable

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* 38. To what degree would the following increase your commitment to the fire department? (Choose all that apply)

	A lot	Slightly	Not at all	Not applicable	Already have this benefit
Pension	Pension A lot	Pension Slightly	Pension Not at all	Pension Not applicable	Pension Already have this benefit
Annual tax credit	Annual tax credit A lot	Annual tax credit Slightly	Annual tax credit Not at all	Annual tax credit Not applicable	Annual tax credit Already have this benefit
Recognition	Recognition A lot	Recognition Slightly	Recognition Not at all	Recognition Not applicable	Recognition Already have this benefit
Less Training	Less Training A lot	Less Training Slightly	Less Training Not at all	Less Training Not applicable	Less Training Already have this benefit
More training	More training A lot	More training Slightly	More training Not at all	More training Not applicable	More training Already have this benefit
Online Training opportunities	Online Training opportunities A lot	Online Training opportunities Slightly	Online Training opportunities Not at all	Online Training opportunities Not applicable	Online Training opportunities Already have this benefit
Health Club Membership	Health Club Membership A lot	Health Club Membership Slightly	Health Club Membership Not at all	Health Club Membership Not applicable	Health Club Membership Already have this benefit

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* 39. Please indicate whether you think the following things will benefit your fire department

	A Lot	Slightly	Already have this option	Not at all
Increased funding	Increased funding A Lot	Increased funding Slightly	Increased funding Already have this option	Increased funding Not at all
Total Government funding	Total Government funding A Lot	Total Government funding Slightly	Total Government funding Already have this option	Total Government funding Not at all
More calls	More calls A Lot	More calls Slightly	More calls Already have this option	More calls Not at all
Less calls	Less calls A Lot	Less calls Slightly	Less calls Already have this option	Less calls Not at all
Paid administrative assistance	Paid administrative assistance A Lot	Paid administrative assistance Slightly	Paid administrative assistance Already have this option	Paid administrative assistance Not at all
More equipment	More equipment A Lot	More equipment Slightly	More equipment Already have this option	More equipment Not at all
More government involvement	More government involvement A Lot	More government involvement Slightly	More government involvement Already have this option	More government involvement Not at all
Less government involvement	Less government involvement A Lot	Less government involvement Slightly	Less government involvement Already have this option	Less government involvement Not at all
Online Training Opportunities	Online Training Opportunities A Lot	Online Training Opportunities Slightly	Online Training Opportunities Already have this option	Online Training Opportunities Not at all

Question Title

* 40. How did you first gain your interest in volunteer firefighting?

College or University training

High School Service Hours

Scouts

Family

Friends

Community Event

Fire Department recruiting event

Other