Planning in the rapidly changing emergency services environment is a challenge for all fire department leaders, but probably more so for those who are leading the nation's small volunteer fire departments.

In recent years, new strategies for effectively managing limited fire department resources and keeping up with the forces of change — standards of response cover, risk assessment and strategic planning — have proved to be effective for emergency services organizations. Volunteer Fire Company Planning Processes, a free 13-page guide available on the Web from VFIS, is designed to help leaders of volunteer organizations apply them.

The guide can be downloaded at www.vfis.com/store/downloads/downloads.htm?Openform (see lower right column). For more information, call VFIS at 800-233-1957.