The recruitment and retention of volunteer emergency responders has become a hot topic of discussion. As volunteer responders become scarcer, communities are forced to explore the combination route, with paid staff handling times when volunteers are unavailable. But many departments face serious personnel problems when they begin to pay some members while others are not paid.

Often these problems stem from bringing in outside help without first offering a paid opportunity to the volunteers. Problems also can be created when a department singles out only a few from the volunteer ranks, making them full-time employees. The remaining volunteers may see no opportunity to move into a paid position and are left feeling unappreciated. Once those volunteers walk away, it is very difficult to bring them back. At that point, if you do not have funding to add more paid staff, you really have shot yourself in the foot.

The need to move beyond a totally volunteer operation was driven in our community by a lack of available volunteers during day hours. Deerfield Fire Department in Portage County, Ohio, handles about 430 emergency calls a year in a 25-square-mile response area. The year-round population of 3,300 doubles in summer months with users of the department; however we were experiencing unacceptable response time during day hours. We also needed to guarantee that a responder would be available for immediate response. Thus we began the process of hiring a paid-on-duty responder starting in February 2004.

To prepare for this process, we began planning for paid-on-duty personnel two months earlier. We realized a need to ensure that the volunteer responders did not feel squeezed out or less important. We also began to explore a compensation program for volunteers.

The transition from entirely volunteer to combination can be difficult. Volunteers often feel after a call that the paid person should do the clean up. Obviously, the clean-up task after a fire is too great for one person to handle. Some departments have reported problems stemming from paid personnel feeling that they were in command. A clear set of operational procedures that define how the command structure works and the duties of paid personnel between calls is the best way to stop arguments before they start.

How the Plan Works

We started our combination efforts by having one paid person on duty at the station during day hours — 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. — primarily to handle EMS calls. We now have an EMS responder on duty at the station 24 hours each day.

Most of our concerns were over how to create a safe system of response with only one person initially responding. This person would respond, establish command and begin treatment while waiting for volunteer assistance to arrive. The responding on-duty person needed clear guidelines concerning the situations to which they could respond, and those to which they were not allowed to respond unless accompanied by additional personnel.

Calls involving domestic violence or areas known to be dangerous were identified as "wait for more help before responding" incidents. We are served by the Portage County Sheriff Department, which is facing its own financial problems. Often only one deputy is on duty for the entire southern portion of the county.

The lone responder needed a way to quickly determine whether assistance was coming from the volunteers. All responders were equipped with a handheld radio so that the first-responding person could know quickly which volunteers were responding. If the lone responder did not hear another person responding within one minute, he would immediately call for mutual-aid support from daytime paid staff at neighboring departments that also were beginning to use paid personnel on a part-time basis.

Our plan was to slowly move to a combination department, with priority on keeping the volunteer staff responding. Our design was to first offer paid opportunities to the volunteer staff. This would be difficult since most volunteer members have full-time jobs outside the community.

Consequently, we needed a very flexible scheduling plan. What we developed works as follows: on the 21st of each month, anyone wanting to work paid duty time submits a schedule that indicates the days and times that they are available in the next month. All such schedules are aggregated and a paid schedule is drawn up for the month. Hours offered are based on the requester's volunteer response for the recent previous months. The more volunteer responses a person has, the more paid hours to which they are entitled. There rarely is any arguing because everyone can see the system is based on their volunteer responses. The only people who get more hours than they earned are those who are willing to work hours no one wants, like holidays and midnights.

We initially thought the schedule would be difficult to fill from within our own volunteer ranks, but we were wrong. Several members were working part time jobs during day hours outside the community. They decided that it was economically smarter to work part-time locally at a job they loved. We made shifts very flexible, with persons able to select anything between 4 and 12 hours.

Our plan was well received by the community. We had several incidents of persons surviving primarily from our ability to get to them 5 minutes quicker than we could with volunteers responding from their homes. Our success gave us confidence to go back to voters in 2006 with an offer to provide 24-hour coverage supported by an increase in the tax levy that funds the program. The voters approved and we began 24-hour coverage in January 2007. Members can select anything between 4- and 24-hour shifts.

Our pay rate, while competitive, certainly is not enough to enable volunteers to quit their full-time employment. Our design centered on using part-time positions to provide full-time coverage. The Staffing Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grants also fund full-time positions that would be shared by part-time workers, although I have yet to see any reports of it being done, much less how it worked.

Keeping Everyone Satisfied

People join volunteer emergency services for numerous reasons: excitement of the job; someone willing to pay for training that may lead to a full-time career; a strong desire to serve their community; the feeling of being appreciated for a service provided. But all of these reasons are limited in their ability to keep trained, dedicated volunteers in an organization over the long haul.

Those joining for excitement quickly realize a massive amount of time spent in training and in maintaining the operations equipment is the cost. Those only wanting excitement will not last long unless they also have a strong desire to serve the community.

But that desire to serve the community has to be generated from within. Volunteers who expect the public to shower them with thanks quickly will be disappointed. I recently received my 40-year award for service on the volunteer fire department. Other than my fellow members and the township's trustees, no one in the community even said "good job." A local newspaper even declined to print our yearly awards banquet information, as it was not viewed as newsworthy.

Those that join for the training that will help them get a paid position in emergency service leave as soon as they can find a paid position. I do not blame them, as everyone needs a paying job.

The most valuable resources for volunteer operations are those persons who have some of the qualities discussed above and who also form roots in the community. A trained responder who is buying a home in the community is one of the community's greatest assets.

One of the biggest problems that small governments have is funding. If the controlling board establishes a pay-per-hour system with volunteers, they worry about unknown costs. Those costs will be affected by the intrinsic unpredictability that exists concerning the amount of calls to which a department will respond, and the time involved. Small governments want to be able to say that they will allocate exactly a certain amount of money to a project.

We develop a compensation plan for each year that defines exactly what will be paid out to the volunteers. We began in 2003 with $5,000 in the yearly plan and have established $12,000 as the plan maximum for this year. Last year, with a total pool of $10,000, the top responder received $1,281. Four members received $1,000 or more, while four other members received between $500 and $600. An additional four received between $400 and $500 and the rest ranged from $400 down to $90. While this is obviously small compensation for even the top responder — who made more than 200 calls for the year — it is a nice bonus that is dispersed right before the December holiday period, when extra gift-giving money is appreciated.

Payout is based on points and hours. We use the Firehouse Software application, which makes it easy at the end of year to determine what hours and points are accumulated by each member. We assign a minimum of one point for responding. On EMS calls, members who transport the patient get an additional point. Fires have a point range that depends on the equipment used. A simple trash fire earns one point, while a major structure fire could earn five points. Points also are awarded for training and community events. Hours on scene also are tracked for each member.

In November, points and hours are tabulated for the previous 12 months, and members are compensated based on this quantitative measure of their contributions. Total payout never exceeds the amount allocated by the township's trustees for the given year, so there are no surprises.

We call our system an expense-reimbursement plan and money is dispersed to compensate expenses incurred by members when responding to a call. Money paid is not considered income subject to tax. Concern had been expressed by township trustees that payout could be considered wages. But our township clerk has had several routine audits and never has the auditor questioned the system as we use or define it.

As noted above, the top responder for 2009 made about 200 calls and received $1281. This works out to about $6.00 per call and each call takes about 2 hours. One easily could say that the reimbursement in that case is $3.00 per hour. By the time a person factors in the expenses involved in responding and attending training functions, they easily can justify the money as a reimbursement of those expenses. Again, it's not a lot of money, but it still is a statement that the service time they provide is appreciated.

As we increase the pool of volunteer-reimbursement money, we eventually will reach a point where payout is more than can be justified as reimbursement. At that point we may need to designate excess payout as wages. Perhaps our legislators will increase incentive programs to the point where that will not be a problem.

Some unexpected benefits of this program appeared. We have seen some friendly competition for the top-responder payout, which has caused total volunteer response numbers to increase. There has been no indication of any paid vs. nonpaid animosity.

A benefit of the plan we have not yet used concerns punitive discipline. If someone doesn't follow standard operating procedures or violates department policy, the plan easily could be designed to deduct points as a penalty.

The only member who is not eligible to receive reimbursement money is the chief. It would be a conflict for the person who calculates the points to also receive a payout. Also, when a person is working paid-duty time, they do not receive response points.

I am sure that our plan is only one of many that have been tried, and that it won't be the best option for every department. But it has worked well in Deerfield Township and we will fine-tune it as we move slowly from all-volunteer, to combination, to a fully paid department. We will do this while assuring our volunteers that they are the backbone of the operation.

Miles Felmly has been chief of the Deerfield (Ohio) Fire Department since 1977.

Sidebar: The Out-of-Towners

The New Boston (N.H.) Fire and Rescue Department provides fire, rescue and hazmat response; fire inspections; and fire-prevention education with 50 active volunteers who operate eight apparatus from two stations. All firefighters are required to meet the minimum requirements of NFPA 1001 — provided by the department — and must do so within one year of joining the department as a condition of their continued membership. New Boston does not charge or request payment for any services.

Most of our members work outside of town, leaving few personnel available during the day. The department accepts personnel from surrounding towns within two miles of the town line.

Several years ago, an out-of-town candidate applied for membership. It was apparent up front that she wanted to join a career department, but as she lived in a town that did not offer volunteer opportunities at the career agency, she was not likely to get the experience or additional qualifications needed to get hired onto a career department.

When I found out that she lived eight miles from the town line, I told her that she lived too far away. But her enthusiasm and determination struck me, so I told her that I would give it some thought. I called her back several days later and told her that if she would agree to be "on duty" at our station eight hours a week during weekday hours, I would consider letting her join. In addition, I told her that she would have to make regular meetings in the evenings and support the association events. She agreed, and that was the beginning of the New Boston Fire Department recruit program.

Here is an excerpt from the program flyer:

The New Boston Fire Department Recruit Program provides an excellent opportunity for those who wish to gain exposure and experience in the fire/EMS profession with a thriving volunteer fire department. … The program is designed to present an opportunity for aspiring firefighters and EMTs to become acclimated to a fire-department atmosphere.

This program requires fire and/or medically trained individuals to staff the central fire station with a set number of hours in exchange for being a member of the department. Recruits will have the opportunity to gain significant firefighting and EMS experience in a relatively short period of time.

As a recruit with NBFD, you will benefit from:

• Valuable fire/EMS knowledge and training from some of New Hampshire's best volunteer fire officers and firefighters.

• Hands-on experience for career development in the fire/EMS industry.

• The opportunity to receive New Hampshire state fire training at the reduced cost of an affiliated fire-department member.

• Ability to train and learn on a variety of modern equipment and apparatus.

Both the department and the recruit understand that recruits likely will remain a member of the department for only one to two years. This primarily is because — unlike volunteers — recruits aren't reimbursed for the training they take while with the department. Recruits also must have at least EMT-B certification to join.

There is a need to be in a constant mode of attracting new recruits. Sources for providing new applicants have been referrals from surrounding career departments, several local colleges that offer nursing and paramedic courses as well as a regional college that offers fire-science classes. Another source is our members, who know of personnel or meet personnel in external training courses they take.

Since the program's inception, the department has had eight recruits. Of those personnel, four have obtained jobs with career departments and four still are participating in the program and probably will land jobs in the next few months. We also have three recruit applicants.

Could these personnel have secured job in career departments without the recruit program? Possibly, but it is likely they that would have faced longer roads to get to the same position.

— Chief Dan MacDonald