The National Volunteer Fire Council’s Volunteer Advocacy Committee has launched a Web page as an informational resource for volunteer emergency responders who find themselves under pressure to give up or reduce their involvement in volunteering. The page, located at www.nvfc.org/volunteeradvocacy, features a confidential form that volunteers can use to communicate directly with the committee about problems that they are experiencing, as well as links to articles, reports and other information related to the right of individuals to volunteer.

One of the issues that this new resource is designed to address is the problem of career firefighters being prohibited from volunteering during off-duty hours by their employer or union. According to the Government Accountability Office, there are close to 30,000 career firefighters across the country who volunteer as firefighters when they are off duty. These individuals are commonly referred to as “two-hatters.”