Every time firefighters Leave the station on a response, they are saying, in effect, “How can we help?” It’s a natural part of a firefighter’s job to offer assistance, and it’s what attracts many of us to our profession. So it’s only natural for us at the International Association of Fire Chiefs Volunteer Chief Officers Section (VCOS) to make that same offer to other volunteer and combination officers. We’ve asked how we can help, and you’ve said, “Training.”
VCOS now offers the Leadership and Administration course. VCOS’ mission is to provide chief officers who manage volunteers within the fire/rescue/EMS delivery system with information, education, and services to enhance their professional and leadership capabilities.
These courses are being offered at virtually no cost to the departments, and we conduct them around the country close to the departments that need them. Pierce Manufacturing has agreed to pay for the course, except for some incidental expenses, so all chief officers can take advantage of it. Each time a volunteer or combination department purchases a Pierce apparatus, a contribution is made to the program fund, to pay for the curriculum, materials, instructors, and travel.
Departments that want a course are expected to provide a facility with chairs and tables, some audiovisual equipment, and help with class registration. They are also expected to help market the course to maximize attendance. There should be a minimum of 15 people; one class we conducted had 194 members. The course can also be custom tailored for time. Ideally, the course would be more than two days to cover a good selection of modules and to answer questions. We have conducted one-day and even a few three-day courses.
PROGRAM CONTENT
Volunteer and combination department firefighting is a large and varied service, and no one training course is going to provide the information in the exact form that every chief or executive officer needs. Therefore, we created a modular course out-line that allows us to tailor the instruction to the specific needs of just one or two departments. Virtually everyone needs some help in one or more management areas. It may be that your firefighters acknowledge-even boast about-your technical expertise, but your inability to present a financial need to your city council has meant your department doesn’t get the apparatus it needs. Or maybe a lack of understanding of media relations has meant that your department is ignored in the local newspaper.
In 1995, Chief Fred Windisch of the Ponderosa Volunteer Fire Department of Houston, Texas (and current VCOS chairman), and I approached the National Association of State Training Directors and asked, “What kind of training do you offer for volunteer chiefs?” The sad fact was that, until now, limited training was aimed at the needs of volunteers. The same programs for career firefighters, aimed at national standards and regulations, didn’t deal with recruiting and retaining membership and other issues that confront the volunteer chief. Several fire chiefs who work with volunteer and combination departments every day established the VCOS program. It’s not just for the top chief; it is also for future chiefs and other officers in an attempt to create a legacy of trained officers in various departments. These modules were created after we looked at the unique situation of volunteer and combination departments. The chiefs of these departments have to know the technical and regulatory aspects of firefighting as well as how to deal with these other issues.
The course has core modules that cover recruiting and retaining volunteer firefighters, leadership issues in the emergency service, and marketing your fire department. In addition to these core modules, departments may choose from a series of elective modules that include problem solving, team building, speaking and persuading for the emergency services officer, customer service, alternative funding for department operations, budgeting for the emergency manager, and incident command system.
This program has been up and running for three years. The instructors are all life-long volunteer and combination department officers. For more information, view our Web site at www.vcos.org
JOHN BUCKMAN has served 22 years as chief of the German Township (IN) Volunteer Fire Department in Evansville, Indiana, and is second vice president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC). He was instrumental in forming the IAFC’s Volunteer Chief Officers Section and is a past chairman. He is an adjunct faculty member in the National Fire Academy residence program, is an advisory board member of Fire Engineering, and lectures extensively on fire service-related topics.
