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Fire Service Future Lies In EMS?
Fire departments that only respond to fires will cease to exist within a few generations, suggested I. David Daniels, IAFC official and fire chief of Renton, Wash., during a weekend presentation at Fire-Rescue International.
If departments expect to maintain relevance over time, they're going to have to follow growth industries, he said.
"We advertise at the bottom of the pyramid -- we haven't been fire departments for at least the last 30 years," he said. "EMS -- that is my number one business. It's a growth industry. My other growth industry is emergency management," he said.
By offering a suite of services and promoting that to the community, departments will meet the broader needs of a larger proportion of the community.
"I would argue the traditional, only-going-to-fires fire department will not exist in my grandchildren's lifetime," he said.
"We think we're a really popular group and everyone loves us. Well, maybe. But do you want to be loved or be necessary? ...Emotions shift," he said. Communities could question whether occasional fire suppression is worth the price of maintaining a service.
Daniels spoke about the fire service's rise and fall in popularity depending on public perception and major events, particularly 9/11. With major events being rare, affection can wane.
"It's like Janet Jackson said," he quipped. "'What have you done for me lately?'"
Daniels reminded the audience of the times when General Motors had 40 percent of U.S. auto sales, and Woolworth's was the largest retailer in the world. "My how things change when you don't pay attention," he said.
So what do your "customers" really think, and how do you know? Daniels advised polling communities, and considering the difference between the general response and that from residents who have actually used the department's services.
Departments should consider everything about their public perception, including what happens when someone calls the organization's regular line for a non-emergency inquiry.
Daniels also asked responders to realize that they often expect more emergency service funding in the communities where they work than they would be willing to support in taxes in their own communities.
"Ask yourself how you would like to be engaged if you put yourself in your residents' shoes," he said.
How many of us know of small rural fire departments that don't do any type of EMS service other than MVA's, rescues, etc? What about tax based services? Are tax payers getting thier money's worth? Should fire deparments concentrate on fighting fires and utilize valuable resources and funding to that end or should they provide at least some type of EMS service?
If departments expect to maintain relevance over time, they're going to have to follow growth industries, he said.
"We advertise at the bottom of the pyramid -- we haven't been fire departments for at least the last 30 years," he said. "EMS -- that is my number one business. It's a growth industry. My other growth industry is emergency management," he said.
By offering a suite of services and promoting that to the community, departments will meet the broader needs of a larger proportion of the community.
"I would argue the traditional, only-going-to-fires fire department will not exist in my grandchildren's lifetime," he said.
"We think we're a really popular group and everyone loves us. Well, maybe. But do you want to be loved or be necessary? ...Emotions shift," he said. Communities could question whether occasional fire suppression is worth the price of maintaining a service.
Daniels spoke about the fire service's rise and fall in popularity depending on public perception and major events, particularly 9/11. With major events being rare, affection can wane.
"It's like Janet Jackson said," he quipped. "'What have you done for me lately?'"
Daniels reminded the audience of the times when General Motors had 40 percent of U.S. auto sales, and Woolworth's was the largest retailer in the world. "My how things change when you don't pay attention," he said.
So what do your "customers" really think, and how do you know? Daniels advised polling communities, and considering the difference between the general response and that from residents who have actually used the department's services.
Departments should consider everything about their public perception, including what happens when someone calls the organization's regular line for a non-emergency inquiry.
Daniels also asked responders to realize that they often expect more emergency service funding in the communities where they work than they would be willing to support in taxes in their own communities.
"Ask yourself how you would like to be engaged if you put yourself in your residents' shoes," he said.
How many of us know of small rural fire departments that don't do any type of EMS service other than MVA's, rescues, etc? What about tax based services? Are tax payers getting thier money's worth? Should fire deparments concentrate on fighting fires and utilize valuable resources and funding to that end or should they provide at least some type of EMS service?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Zack Spalding on
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I think departments that respond as first response and control the situation before the ambulance gets their is probably the best. Departments our usually layed out in a way to provide the best response time but that is not always so with EMS especially if you our relying on a commercial provider that might be 10 to 15 miles away. So if a fire dept responds along with an ambulance they can provide critical care till an ambulance gets on scene and assist an ambulance crew which might only have two people.
Plus with not getting involved with transport it frees up a fire crew to be quickly available for the next call. On the medicals I have been on it usually takes up 15 minutes of a fire dept time, when a transport agency might be involved with that patient for up to two hours before they our back in service. -
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Permalink Reply by Auxman on
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The more you ask the department to do, the more its going to cost. He's right that a lot of departments long ago expanded to become general emergency mangement agencies doing everything from hazmat, to general search and rescue, etc., in addition to EMS.
For the areas that have a department all about fire and whose community struggles just to do that, I guess it is up to them to balance out whether it is more efficient to go with ambulance services or to try to expand the volunteer department to first responder or higher qualifications and equipment. -
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Permalink Reply by Steve McFarland on
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We would all like to be able to be all things to all people. The first fact is that we are VOLUNTEERS. Someone has to pay for all the added training. Someone has to pay for the extra equipment, and the extra insurance, and, and, and...
I have been part of two different volunteer squads through the years. One department is seriously RURAL. They have been dependent on the generous donations of equipment and supplies from other more fortunate departments. That is for EVERYTHING: Apparatus, bunker gear, hoses, tools, etc. Their total operating budget was about $15,000 per year. That was the sum total of the money they had to operate the department. Ask them to take on EMS...
The other department is still rural, but at least not out in the sticks. They have a reasonably decent budget to operate a Fire Department, but there is no extra to fund EMS. No money to pay for training. No money to pay for EMS equipment, etc. This department has been one of the best donors to the previously mentioned department. We have always been glad to help when we could.
As a volunteer, who is going to pay for my tuition and expenses to become an EMT? Not the fire department, unfortunately. What about all my travel to go to classes, etc.? How many calls will I have to go on as an EMT, making ZERO dollars per call to recoup my investment? Any number times zero is still zero. If I want to become an EMT, I have to bite the bullet, and pay for it myself. Unfortunately my financial situation is in the red already, without that added expense.
I have been in public service in various capacities since 1975. I have spent untold thousands of dollars out of my own pocket during that time. Until I got in the fire service, I never paid a dime for my specialized training. If I won the lottery, sure. But not until.
It is easy to say we have to be all things to all people, but someone has to foot the bill. -
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