Volunteers Spell Out Needs to USFA At Three-Day National Conference
At the end of three days of intensive work by more than 60 representatives of the nation’s volunteer fire service, they called it the Stonebridge Conference. Some years from now, they may refer to it as a milestone in the progress of the volunteer fire service and a turning point in relations with the United States Fire Administration (USFA).
The workshop participants pinpointed the most pressing needs of the volunteer fire service and Gordon Vickery, USFA administrator, has directed his staff to begin designing programs to meet those needs.
It will not come as a surprise to many that the conferees designated training as the prime need of the volunteer fire service. When the conference members established priorities for the nine topics they had discussed, dissected and diagnosed, training was selected for first place more than three times as often as any other subject. Training also was mentioned twice as often as any other topic for second place and even third place.
Other priorities
If you weigh each first place mention as three, each second place mention as two and each third place as one, then training received 141 points. Information transfer, rated at 44 on this scale, was the subject given the second highest priority, and the compilation and dissemination of information about existing federal assistance programs ran third.
The other needs of the volunteer fire service, as rated by the representatives of that service, were, in descending order of importance, personnel recruitment, public relations, arson, business management, hazardous materials and emergency medical services.
Not only did the conference, through a day and a half of workshops, define the needs of the volunteer fire service in terms of priorities, but the conference members also described specific actions that the USFA should take to meet these needs.
The conference, held at the Stonebridge Inn Conference Center in Snowmass, Colo., Aug. 17-19, was conducted by the National Volunteer Fire Council in cooperation with the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the International Society of Fire Service Instructors. It was sponsored by the United States Fire Administration, which is now part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The conferees were representatives of volunteer fire service organizations in 49 of the 50 states. Only Hawaii was not represented.
Selection of topics
The mechanics of planning and operating the conference are of particular interest because they support the validity of the conclusions reached by the participants. First a steering committee sat down and brainstormed a list of about 40 topics of possible interest to volunteers. Before the conference, this list was mailed to all the participants, who were asked to select the nine topics they considered to be the most important. From this survey, the subject areas for the nine workshops at the conference were selected.
Each conference participant was assigned to three different workshops. As much as possible, the assignments were made in accordance with the top three subjects selected by each conferee.
Each of the nine workshops was conducted three times with a different group of participants each time. In the initial round of workshops, the conferees pretty much explored their specific topics without any bounds to their mental roaming. The goal was to develop a number of statements on the topic.
Second round
In the second round of workshops, the participants started their discussions with a review of the statements developed by their predecessors. However, they were not limited by these statements and they could expand, modify or delete statements made by their predecessors, and they were free to introduce additional recommendations.
In the third round at each workshop, a fresh look at the subject area was taken by a group that had not previously discussed this topic—although they had considered other topics at workshops in the first and second rounds. As veterans with two workshops behind them, not only did the conferees tend to develop discussions sharpened by experience, but they also became more skilled in taking the meat off the bones bequeathed by their predecessors in that same workshop.
As a natural progression of the refinement of ideas, the people working in the third round of workshops found that they were developing substantially based statements of needs in each workshop subject area. From this position, it was a relatively easy step to priorities for the final statements that were developed.
Guidance asked and given
During an informal discussion after dinner at the first night of the conference, Vickery told the conference members that he hoped “you will give us some guidance” on what programs should be offered by the USFA. He said he expected the conference to identify specifics so that resources could be allocated accordingly by his administration.
After the conference ended, E. James Monihan of Lewes, Del., president of the National Volunteer Fire Council and chairman of the conference steering committee, commented, “I think the administration has plenty to address. There’s nothing vague about it. There’s nothing new about it, but at least now it’s clear what the volunteer fire service wants.”
Monihan also stressed the fact that the topics discussed were those selected by the conferees and added, “They were the ones who chose the subjects of the workshops. It wasn’t as though somebody put this conference on and said, ‘OK, this is what we’re going to talk about.’ It was the participants who made the choices.”
Monihan also pointed out that those attending the conference represented “a good cross section” of the nation’s volunteer fire service.
Staff to review statements
At the final conference general session, Joseph A. Moreland, USFA deputy administrator, remarked that he felt the “enthusiasm has certainly caught on to the fire academy staff here.”
Moreland said that the staff is going to look at the statements developed by the nine workshops to see how their suggestions “can be cranked into existing programs” and to see how new programs can be developed.
Moreland spoke of the increased unanimity in the fire service as to what the service needs and he said that he saw that the “needs and goals of all of us are quickly closing around high priority items.”
The deputy administrator voiced confidence that “we can look forward to repetitions of this (conference) . . . . possibly on an annual basis.”
Training needs
The training workshop called for the establishment of federal funding for accredited state training and urged that the National Fire Academy (NFA) get its courses into the field where volunteers can participate it) them. The workshop also said that the NFA should develop sequential training program needs assessments covering the training from the recruit to the chief.
The training workshop also proposed that the NFA develop more highly sophisticated courses, including correspondence courses, and develop incentives for individuals to participate in training.
The development of a national system of training and education, along with minimum standards, more instructors and more training aids was urged by the training workshop. The training group called not only for officer training, but also to include in that training methods of motivating others. The training workshop also urged that the USFA develop a resource center for training.
Information transfer
The information transfer workshop saw a need for a central resource center that would include a computer-based library, an 800 area code phone number and a mail-in service. The center also should have access to other information systems of the federal government, such as the Library of Congress.
The workshop recommended that the FEMA communications network, as well as the law enforcement network Ire used by the communications center so there could be a rapid information transfer to every state.
The information workshop also pointed out that the interchange of information should work two ways and information should also move from the local level to the federal plateau. The workshop called for a national newsletter that would be mailed to fire departments, state associations and fire service national publications.
The information workshop pointed out that there was inadequate fire department capability in administration development and there was a lack of understanding of the effects of legislation.
The workshop also called for efforts to improve the public awareness of the volunteer fire service and it suggested a TV documentary, a national program to improve the volunteer fire sendee image and a resource package to tell local fire departments how to prepare press releases.
The workshop saw inadequate methods of training delivery and cited the lack of communications among local fire departments.
Federal assistance
The federal assistance workshop, in its final report, said that the USFA should collect and disseminate information on federal assistance, which would include surplus property and equipment, training resources, revenue sharing, writing grants and research applications, and low-interest loans.
The assistance workshop also called for regional federal assistance and coordination availability to the fire service to expedite grants, revenue sharing and loans.
The group said the USFA should develop an information chain for emergency and routine items. The group was for accredited training programs for volunteers and said the USFA should give state training aid. The workshop called for matching funds and said the USFA should get the federal government to provide an incentive for local low-interest loans. The assistance workshop also urged that the fire academy serve as a resource center for training.
Recruitment
The personnel recruitment and compensation workshop, citing the lack of information on effective recruiting programs, urged the USFA to collect and disseminate such information and also to develop a model recruitment program. As a means of retaining personnel. the workshop suggested recognition for service, awards and compensation of some sort—not necessarily monetary—for current service as well as retirement benefits.
This workshop also urged effective and innovative training as a means of retaining personnel and stated that motivation, challenging assignments, opportunities for promotion, and performance and job standards might also induce volunteers to continue in their fire departments.
The public relations workshop called for the development of a comprehensive approach to public relations by the volunteer fire service with USFA aid. Specifically, the workshop urged a three-hour course emphasizing the need for volunteers to recognize their public responsibilities, a proposal that the USFA should hold a seminar on public relations for volunteer fire officers, and that the USFA should make available a program for public legislators and government bodies about the volunteer fire service.
Arson
The arson workshop declared that all fire fighters need an overview course in fire detection and some fire fighters need a course in the determination of fire origin and cause. Additionally, the workshop decided that there should be for some other fire fighters a comprehensive course in fire investigation.
The workshop called for a policy of cross-training of fire and police investigators and urged that a certification system be developed under NFPA standards.
The arson workshop proposed that arson detection be made one of the requirements of the NFPA 1001 standard and that a 15 to 30-hour package on arson detection be made available by the NFA for state and regional fire instruction. The group suggested that responsible local agencies establish guidelines for cooperation in arson investigation.
In discussing prevention and public education, the workshop proposed the enactment of model arson laws by the states, enforcement of fire prevention and building codes, public awareness programs, data to be made available by public and private organizations, a reward system, and data collection to spot substandard, buildings that were ripe for arson.
The workshop called for the use of an arson task force that would involve interagency cooperation on both the state and local levels with the establishment of who is responsible. It urged that when more than one jurisdiction is involved in arson investigation, that they train together. It was urged that the USFA provide assistance and guidelines for arson investigation and cooperate in the attack on the nation’s arson problem.
Business management
The business management workshop suggested the development of fire service master plans for a minimum of five years and because it saw a need for improvement in the selection of chiefs and other officers, it proposed the establishment of criteria for the selection of officers.
This workshop also called for better communications with the USFA and it pointed out that input should be in both directions. The workshop called for funding sources, both at the local level and through insurance companies.
The business management group suggested that the USFA develop a simplified business procedures manual and urged that the USFA provide management training. The group also called for a joint purchasing program.
Hazardous materials
The hazardous materials workshop urged that FEMA have a role in the hazardous materials problem and called for a better hazardous materials identification system with an improved emergency information source. Other recommendations were a better use of existing expertise and federal funding of training in hazardous materials problems.
Medical service
The EMS workshop decided that all volunteers should have first-responder training at the local level that would include first aid and CPR. This workshop said that advanced emergency medical care should be a local option and commented that the USFA and the state training organizations should be supportive of EMS resources while avoiding duplication of effort.
The EMS workshop also said that the USFA should provide resources that are geared to the volunteer fire service and shoidd include equipment standards and funding, management training, public education and relations, a resource exchange, and information funding.
Course delivery system
Throughout the workshop discussions, there were expressions of opinions that NFA courses should become available in all the states and not just four locations in the country, as was done under the cluster program this year. The remarks made about the delivery of academy courses indicated a strong desire for these courses to be presented in as many places as practical.
The other point made obvious in the workshop reports was that NFA courses for the most part should be designed to train the trainers. This is a concept that was endorsed by the NFA in its early days but was reflected in only some of the courses presented in the cluster program and the 1978 federal region program. The idea is that those who take NFA courses will then teach others in their state, region or fire department, thereby spreading the influence of academy courses over a far greater number of fire fighters than could be done by the academy staff alone.
During a discussion of NFA plans, Moreland agreed that fire service education cannot be limited to the National Fire Academy site and declared, “The academy recognizes that it has to meet the needs of volunteer and rural fire departments.”
The USFA deputy administrator also said that the open university program, which is being tested, will give fire fighters an opportunity to study college courses for credit at home.
Vickery favors outreach
In his after-dinner remarks on the first night of the conference, Vickery said he was striving for added emphasis on the so-called outreach—or off-campus—program of the academy because only 6000 to 8000 students can be accommodated on campus in a year.
In addition to Monihan, the Stonebridge Conference steering committee included Donald D. Flinn, general manager of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and Louis J. Amabili, president of the International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI) and director of the Delaware State Fire School.
Flinn characterized the objectives established by the conference as “realistic, responsible and clear” and he said “they challenge not just the USFA, but the volunteer fire service.”
Amabili saw the work of the conference as “another benchmark of progress” for the fire service and pledged to all fire fighters—volunteer and paid— ISFSI’s “full cooperation and support by working with USFA, the NFA and state and local agencies to assure that the training and education delivery network will be responsible to the needs identified by the participants of the Stonebridge Conference.
