Where have all the volunteers gone???

Ok, so i realize that people are busy

10 years ago people had jobs and families and lives as well.

Where have all the volunteers gone?

Yes, firefighting is dangerous

10 years ago it was just as hot

Where have all the volunteers gone?

A lot of people today say they don't have the time to respond to "the typical false alarm"

10 years ago their wives were waiting at the station because their dinner was interupted by a "typical false alarm" and they made time to help people

Where have all the volunteers gone?

tonight at fire training we had just enough officers and firefighters to staff 2 aperatus

10 years ago they would run out of chairs for people durring tuesday night trainings in a classroom that would easily accomodate 40+ people

Where have all the volunteers gone?

so my question to all those that say they want to make a difference in the world and want to help people is, why havent you turned in your application to become a firefighter. Our display board out front of our station is for little notes for people driving by, when theres not some meeting or event that needs advertised on the board it usually reads something like "volunteer firefighters needed, apply within"

In the small town where i grew up in washington state, it went without saying that when you turned 18 you put in your application at the VOLUNTEER fire department. there was usually a 1 or 2 year waiting list before you could even start training due to the fact there was soo many people that wanted to help out the comunity!!!

everyone has some story about a police officer pulling them over and giving them some huge fine.

everyone has some story about how some friend they know had some relative misstreated or overcharged by EMS.

BUT EVERYONE LOVES FIREFIGHTERS!!!

(no offense to police or EMS, I respect greatly all that you do. I work part time EMS and i know how difficult the job is and how easily rumors and accusations spread.)

If your an active volunteer I thank you for having the guts, courage, and care in your heart to help make the comunity that much safer.

So I will ask this question yet again,

Where have all the volunteers gone?

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Comment by Amanda 11-33 on October 2, 2007 at 3:20pm: You bring up a very good point but this debate will never be solved. I was born into a volunteer fire department and have seen many people come and go and then come back again. I too am medically trained and work for an ambulance service. For those of us that are primarily employed in EMS, we must work multiple jobs and have very hectic and tight schedules. And although we are members of volunteer fire departments, we must also work to provide for our families that see us less time than our co-workers do. So, due to these hectic work schedules, the "extra stuff" such as department meetings and training are put on the back burners. And that too is why you see a large amount of people come out of the woodwork when the tones drop for a reported structure fire or a vehicle rollover with entrapment. That is because too many people pick and choose which calls they feel are necessary to respond to. And to give you a good example of people wanting to go out and help I will briefly tell you how both my mom and dad used to deal with calls in the middle of the night. Obviously, I was a young child when they would have to do this and so one parent would have to stay home with me. If it was a structure fire, severe vehicle accident with entrapment, or anything else fire related, my dad would respond but if it was a medical call (my service does QRS too) or something not requiring cutting people out of cars or pulling people out of burning buildings, my mom would respond. But then during daylight hours, if both of my parents were around, they would both respond and I would go to the station, grab my goodie bag with lots of things to occupy me, and go sit with one of the other firefighter's wife or girlfriend. It was always like that and my play group of firefighter kids slowly grew over the years. And then, the department put in a toy box of stuff to occupy all the kids while their parents were out saving lives and properties.
I hope I didn't bore you too much with my long explanation but honestly, I don't think this can be solved with a simple answer.
People have to do the things they do for reasons we can't explain.