By Zachary Brown
What does fire service recruitment currently look like? For many organizations, it is a poster in front of the fire station announcing that the hiring period is open, a posting on the department’s social media page, or a booth at a high school job fair. Many of us have wondered at times, What kinds of people does this attract and bring into our organizations? Does the average person driving by the fire station or high school student without any career ambitions make a good firefighter? Perhaps in some instances, yes, but do they become a large group who can create a culture of motivated, high-performing individuals who we need to make up the fire service? I’ll let you give your own answer to that question. Personally, I think that the fire service collectively needs to reevaluate recruitment to find the people and personalities who are best suited for this job and our departments.
The United States fire service was once a conglomeration of people from many different backgrounds and walks of life. This included many who had started their careers in the trades or continued with jobs in the trades (e.g., welders, bricklayers, carpenters, cabinetmakers, plumbers, electricians) in their off time; retired/reserve military personnel who had loyally served the United States in both peace and war; and people who were no strangers to hard times, hard work, and long hours.
However, as the 19th and 20th centuries ended, so did the ideals and values that inspired those generations. As those values of times past have died off, so for many have the ideals of working hard and toiling long hours if only to make the ends meet to support one’s family. In the 21st century, more than ever, workers are placing extremely high importance on job satisfaction and virtual workplaces that allow for personal freedom. What are left behind at alarmingly high rates are jobs that involve physical labor, long hours, and time away from home. This includes the fire service, which has gone from once being a stable though at times a high-risk and back-breaking job to one that is seeing lower and lower recruitment and retention rates.
Also, staffing is being cut more and more every year as the number of available personnel drops. What’s the answer to recruiting quality personnel who are willing to go into harm’s way; be away from home more than the average job; and, in most cases, earn less than they could in many other professions?
What Makes a Good Firefighter?
First, we need to identify who makes a good firefighter and what qualities our departments and communities want to see in our firefighters. By identifying our ideal firefighter, we can have a clearer picture of toward whom we need to direct our recruitment time and efforts. We can all agree that the fire service overall needs people who fit the following mold.
- They are willing to put the citizens first and themselves second, but they are not reckless people. However, it does us no good if we have people who are not willing to take the necessary inherent risks of the fire service.
- They are in good physical and mental shape to accomplish the tasks necessary to complete the missions that we face every time we come to work.
- They are not driven by money but by a love and passion for the job and a set of personal values that there is something more important in the work of a firefighter than just a paycheck.
Where do we find these people? Although there will be many who will find us, there are many who will need to be discovered and sought after. Not everyone has dreamed of being a firefighter since childhood or has aspired to join the ranks of the brotherhood and sisterhood of the fire department because they want to help others or join something bigger than themselves. This does not necessarily mean that once on the job they will be any less of a firefighter. Rather, it just means some people need some assistance in finding their calling. For many people, this calling does not come until they have experienced the job themselves or have been around other firefighters who are into the job. This job and all it entails becomes more attractive and desirable when the passion and pride of firefighting are high priorities for an organization and its members.
Military Veterans
We’ve all heard over and over since recruit school (or even before) that the fire service is a paramilitary organization. Yet, how often do we see and hear of fire service recruiters targeting the very people and organizations toward whom we are structured? These men and women leaving the military are often the perfect candidates to join the firefighter ranks. They are well-versed in structure and order; know how to operate within a command structure; are usually driven by ideals, not money; and have been trained and know how to operate calmly in life-threatening environments.
Yet, too often, it seems they are overlooked or not focused on because they are a little older or don’t quite fit what our organization or community thinks it wants based on such things as tattoos or race. Does it really matter that they don’t mirror our community exactly if they are willing to put their lives on the line for them? These are men and women who have given up so much for our country; let’s find them and invest in them.
Athletes
A buzzword that I have seen circulating in the fire service in the past two or three years is tactical athlete, which compares firefighters and public safety personnel as a whole to athletes. We are similar to professional athletes in that our job is extremely physically demanding and requires that we step up and make the play when it’s fourth and goal.
Only now, there are lives on the scoreboard. Unlike the professional athlete, we don’t have time to stretch and prepare before our event; our events are not neatly scheduled. We often have to go from zero to 60 in minutes, which demands we stay in peak physical condition for when lives are counting on us.
So why not target real athletes who can bring their athleticism to the job? Thousands of collegiate athletes graduate every year, yet only a small percentage will be chosen to go on to play professional sports. Let’s target the remaining large percentage of athletic individuals who often have no career direction beyond sports and may have no option to go professional or pursue their game past college.
They have experienced a team atmosphere and usually know how to be part of a mission larger than themselves. In addition, they are extremely athletic and will have no problems passing the physical requirements to be hired. Once firefighters, they will be able to use their physical qualities for good when we need tactical athletes to make the rescue or push down a hallway.
Emergency Medical Services
Most fire departments across the United States require their members to be cross trained as either an emergency medical technician (EMT) or a paramedic. Yet, many departments across the United States send their personnel to acquire emergency medical services (EMS) training and licensure only after they are hired, often when they are in recruit school. So, why not target people who are graduating or currently enrolled in these EMS programs?
They have just completed a critical part of what our department requires and often needs—i.e., advanced life support care. Yet often, they are left to seek employment at hospitals or private EMS once they graduate, whereas many of them would make great firefighters if offered the opportunity. They would come into our organizations already partially trained, thus shortening their recruit school time and quickening their time to the street on an apparatus. Moreover, the department can save the financial investment required to put them through EMT school while they are on the payroll.
Although I have included just three examples of sources of quality personnel with the potential to make great firefighters, there are many others. Quality personnel can come from anywhere and often in the places we least expect.
During my time in the fire service, I have run across firefighters who were ex-military, had a background in one of the trades (e.g., welders, bricklayers, carpenters, cabinetmakers, plumbers, electricians), ex-collegiate and professional athletes, farmers, immigrants with general educational development diplomas, personnel who grew tired of their desk jobs in corporate America, new high school graduates, and the list goes on and on. However, I do believe that we must envision what we want our department to look like—workforce personnel who have the values and courage to do what we all know is a demanding but purpose-filled job.
The citizens who live in our districts deserve only the best when they are having the worse day of their lives. If we want driven people who take the firefighter’s oath seriously and are physically top-notch to rescue our citizens, we must go find them and recruit them.
Zachary Brown is a captain and 13-year veteran of DeKalb County (GA) Fire Rescue. A 16-year veteran of the fire service, he is a paramedic and has been involved in his department’s technical rescue and dive teams as well as the Georgia Search and Rescue team.
