Communities across North America count on volunteer fire departments to respond to fires, vehicle accidents, medical emergencies, natural disasters, public service calls and countless other scenarios. However, many departments are struggling now more then ever to meet staffing needs.
For example, the NVFC reports that while the number of volunteer firefighters in the U.S. reached an all-time-low in 2020, the call volume for fire departments has more than tripled within the last 35 years. Similarly, Canada continues to see a shrinking volunteer base year-after-year, while simultaneously facing the worst wildfire season on record in 2023.
VFIS had the opportunity to meet Chief Sarah Shoemaker of Nolalu Emergency Services Team (NEST) at the FIRECON Conference held in Thunder Bay, Ontario this past fall. NEST operates in five townships west of Thunder Bay and has two station locations, including one without running water.
The all-volunteer organization serves an estimated 1,600 residents, which doubles in the summertime due to popular recreational activities, and has an annual call volume of about 80-100.
However, unlike many similar, rural departments, NEST is not facing recruitment and retention issues. In fact, they’re fully-staffed. But, that wasn’t always the case. Just six years ago, when Chief Shoemaker started her leadership tenure, they were down to six volunteers. Then, with some remarkable hard work and a few common-sense changes, they were able to turn things around, increase staffing levels and gain a favorable reputation in the community.
We thank Chief Shoemaker for her sharing her insights with us and for her service to her organization and community. Here are a few key takeaways from our conversation that may be able to assist other emergency services organizations with their volunteer recruitment and retention efforts.
When Chief Shoemaker began her leadership role more than six years ago, there were only six volunteer members whose roles were split between firefighters and medical-first response, and the department had minimal policies and procedures for recruitment, retention, training or otherwise.
You don’t often hear fire and EMS organizations saying they are “fully staffed”— but, that’s exactly what NEST considers themselves. They currently have 21 volunteer personnel (50% of which are women!) and about 75% of which are certified to FF1 and 40% at level 2. And, to add to their success, they’ve retained an estimated 75% or more of their personnel since Shoemaker became Chief.
NEST considers themselves fully-staffed using the “butts in seats” approach. Meaning, their apparatus includes a primary pumper, pumper/tanker, tanker, rescue/rehab vehicle, rescue/comm and pick-up truck. So, the number of people they’re able to safely ride in a seated position in all their apparatus equals twenty. (However, they currently have one extra member as they’re planning for a retirement.)
Like all departments, NEST is not without its challenges. For example, the crew recently had to wait on-scene with a patient for three hours until an available ambulance could arrive from Thunder Bay. And, of course, a lack of funding is always top-of-mind—especially, when they’d love to have running water in both of their stations and a proper training location. However, having a team of 21 allows them to be able to focus on and accomplish the everyday challenges and unique hazards that come their way with much more ease than they could as a team of six.
At the end of the day, recruitment and retention doesn’t have to be innovative or fancy—it just has to work. And that’s exactly what the changes that Chief Shoemaker implemented did.