Don't Overlook Volunteer Support Staff

[rangerjim93]

While the firefighters get all the attention in the media and elsewhere, one vital component of a volunteer department that should not be overlooked is the cadre of support personnel, such as auxiliaries and social membership, which my department recently instituted since not everyone who volunteers is fit enough to take on the physical demands of firefighting, but the support/and administrative staff are just as important and I am proud to be one of them and grateful for the opportunity to finally be able to start giving back to my community after over a year of waiting and getting discouraged at time. True, my duties include helping out at fundraisers, various community projects, and various administrative duties, all of which I am more than willing to take on. I am eager to do that and even get a conditioning program going in the hopes of eventually being fit to go active duty at some point. Thus, a volunteer fire department is more than just firefighters and their rigs and equipment, it is also the support staff who help these firefighters with their jobs in any capacity possible. We may not be firefighters, but we are just as much a part of our departments as the firefighters are. Not to sound snotty or high headed or anything, but the support staff are vital too and I just thought I would point it out. Thank you and God bless you all and America.

[flathead]

This would entail thinking outside the box, something which many do not do very well. I have always maintained that there is a job for everybody no matter what. All the things you mentioned a vital to the survival of fire companys in todays world where we are spread so thin between familys,careers, and community service.If interested folks in the community would just step forward and help do such things as fund raising and other necessary chores it would take the load off those of us who put in dozens of hours over the course of a year with little thanks. Just because you join a volunteer FD doesn't mean you have to fight fire. There are dozens of other things to be done. Perhaps if some of us would point this out in our recruiting literature, people would realize this. Again,Jim,thank you for being one of those to step up and lend a helping hand.