We're all having to cut back because of the state of the economy. I'm wondering how many of you are experiencing significant cutbacks in personnel travel for conferences, meetings, etc. And if you are experiencing cutbacks or freezes, how are you compensating for the lack of conference training--Webcasts? other free forms of training? more in-station hands-on training? pooling resources with other departments?
pooling resources with other departments?
Prime opportunity to review the service as a whole, not just the pooling of resources.
If you've got departmetns that are only minutes away, is it really needed? Does the tax payer need to fund so many departments and in some cases amazingly over resourced for the level of protection required...
When I requested permission to attend the Women in the Fire Service Week in September, there was a flat rate for the conference itself, and then if you wanted to take any state courses -- those were an extra $40 or so each. In order to attend the state courses, I had to prove to the board that the courses weren't offered in my county, and explain to them why I needed the training.