Advice on making our hometown rescue squad better..

[Miss EMT]

I need advice on making my hometown rescue squad better. I guess I should start off by saying it is volunteer. Still the members should have enough respect to run when they are supposed to. Lately we have had members not show up to run. Our response time is 7mins.,because everyone runs from home instead of the building.Our rescue squad has became lazy. In my opinion I think our rescue squad should become more active in the community. It just seems that we are falling apart. How do I get our crew motivated? I don't want the county to shut us down and that is whats going to happen if stuff doesn't start changing. Not only that but we are in desperate need of members but not many people want to volunteer their time. I would love to see the rescue squad to rise to the top and be the best that it can be but I don't know where to start. So any advice would help.

 

[medichopeful]

I guess I should start off by saying it is volunteer.

Become paid :glare:

 

[Foxbat]

What is you call volume, response area, population, budget like?

 

[NYBLS]

First off: End the title "Rescue Squad" Are you EMS or fire? Because I know in EMS I never "rescue" someone, I treat them. How is morale in your station? What will attract people to come volunteer?

Solutions:
-Become paid (and advance the profession for everyone in the process)
-Start pay per call or some other incentive to get people to come in and volunteer
-Start maning you base, no "Ya'll come." If I call and ambulance, I want a reasonable response time, not a wait of 7 minutes for an ambulance to even start towards my location (this will also help gain support from your community)
-Advertise in local highschools and colleges (children are our future, and they often have some free time)

 

[mycrofft]

Maybe it is time to fail.

That will cut the excuses for the administration, and maybe usher in a paid department. Not that vollies are not good, but when volunteerism fails, you need to pay people, starting with a administrator, then chief and chauffers and dispatch. A volunteer auxiliary is good.

Take it from me, if you are not in a realistic position to take it over, don't try. It will only end in heartbreak and failure, and will brand you as someone not to use when the new service arises...if one does.

 

[Miss EMT]

I would hate to have to give up and walk away. This place has a long history and it used to be great.

 

[mycrofft]

As the Greek said...

"Some games are better lost than won, and some are best not played at all".

As I said, gather an auxilliary. You can have more influence and subsequently make more improvements; fundraising, talking to city fathers, etc.

 

[Miss EMT]

I guess I should have told you our auxiliary has already fallen apart. It is just us now. I don't know what to do. I'm only 19 and trying to work go to school and cover lots of shifts at the squad. Nobody but me seems to see the need for change. Its is so frustrating. Its like they don't care.

 

[Aidey]

As much as it sucks, I have to agree with everyone else. When a volunteer organization is no longer self sustaining sometimes letting it fold is the best thing that can happen. It can be a real wake up for the community. If they want the service they can't expect to get it for nothing.

 

[MTEMTB]

When the people no longer care it is hard to get others motivated.

It is good that you do care, but be careful or you will get burned out.

 

[Miss EMT]

When the people no longer care it is hard to get others motivated.

It is good that you do care, but be careful or you will get burned out.

I don't want to get burned out but I don't want to see our work go up in flames. People have worked hard to get this place started. Why should we just let it die. I know deep down other people must care its just getting everybody back on track and motivated. I mean I want things like they use to be. I want people to take pride in what we do. I want our crew to work better as a team. I want to be able to depend on my partners as the members of this community depend on us.

 

[mycrofft]

Your spirit is appreciated but you have to pick your fights.

Just as if you found a person lying on the sidewalk, you ask yourself "What happened here? Am I safe, is the pt safe, and what needs to be changed for improvement?".

One guerilla fighting tactic to remember: a mistake will get you in trouble, a program failure may get the boss fired. There is some advantage in being small and low.

 

[Miss EMT]

Well I would like to start with response times. ours really sucks. I live in an area where it takes 10 to 30 mins to get to some of our patients anyway without adding our 7 min response time.

 

[MonkeySquasher]

When the people no longer care it is hard to get others motivated.

+1.

I won't go so far as to agree that letting it fold could be a good thing. Nor will I point the finger first at your admin members more than the general membership. But then again, I don't know anything about your situation.

I'm currently trying to overhaul and revamp my volly fire/EMS company, and I can assure you, it's not easy. In fact, it's boring, tedious, frustrating, and pretty much a thankless job. My situation is probably a tad different.. Our response area isn't too large, and we generally have plenty of people who will show up. Our response times aren't horrible.. We may take a few minutes to get out, but for 99% of calls, you get an ambulance within 10-15 minutes. What I'm fighting to instill in people is proper legal protections, documentation, and general training. I think though, both of our positions try to fight the same thing - Apathy and complacency.

Your first step is to find like-minded individuals. Chances are, you ARENT the only person who feels this way. Test the waters with people in small groups (only 1-2 people at a time).

Second, start being the change you want to cause. I understand you're busy, but do what you can.

From there, like others said.. Try some sort of simple rewards-based program. As unfortunate as it sounds, GIVE people a reason to respond and they will. Try a "Top Responder" award, or maybe just have cookies sitting around the station. haha

 

[Pneumothorax]

I guess I should have told you our auxiliary has already fallen apart. It is just us now. I don't know what to do. I'm only 19 and trying to work go to school and cover lots of shifts at the squad. Nobody but me seems to see the need for change. Its is so frustrating. Its like they don't care.

probably because they dont. which is really sad.

i wish i could do volly ems. but unfortunately the city i live in is ALS/career ems/fire and the surrounding towns that are volly say u have to actually live in them ..which sucks

i hope ur situation gets better

 

[DrParasite]

To start, there are some quite useless suggestions. my EMS agency is a Rescue squad. We have 3 ambulances. We also have a heavy rescue, boat, portable building generator, as well as a support trailer with tons of structural collapse and MCI equipment. So I think "Rescue Squad" is quite a fitting name for our agency, and I'm pretty sure that's the exact same way

That all being said, sometimes you can't go paid. If the call volume doesn't support it, and the local municipality won't fund it to subsidize the loss, then going paid isn't an option. Ditto the 7 min response time to the station, it's often better than no response at all. Plus, if your response times are 30 min, I'm guessing you live in a rural area, so extended response times happen.

Start small. stay positive. be an example. and when you decide you have done all you can, and are fighting an uphill battle, walk away before it drags you down. I have walked away from many EMS jobs (not long term EMS career agencies, short term jobs) for this very reason.

 

[medic417]

First off there are some useless claims that some places can not afford to go paid. Disregard those lies.

Now as to the problem. People burn out. Sounds like that is what your group has done. Perhaps they feel abused by those that they volunteered to help. When I used to volunteer I still kept my family, faith, and paid job first. If I had available time I would agree to respond. It is wrong to make your family and yourself suffer when others refuse to reimburse you for your time.

 

[karaya]

This is not a really good site to come to and expect to find any semblance of a qualified and non-biased answer to your query. There is a fairly large sanction of anti volunteer members here and I'm sure you already bumped into a few of them with this thread.

You may want to check out the NVFC (National Volunteer Fire Council). They have information about your very situation and I'm sure you can get in touch with some folks who have first hand knowledge in helping point you in the right direction.

Here is their website: http://www.nvfc.org/

Good luck!

Ray

 

[Simusid]

I have to laugh at the knee jerk response of "become paid" as the panacea cure all for this problem. I can't tell you how to fix your problem without more information, but I can tell you that I have the exact opposite problem.

We are non-profit ALS and have been around since 1953. We are stacking up volunteers like cord wood. We permanently put a second truck in service 24/7 and we are operating PPB. Sadly we may even be turning good volunteers away because we just don't have the space.

Believe me, I am biased but I think our service is the envy of the area. We got here because of motivated leadership with an emphasis on training and community involvement.

 

[EMSLaw]

If your response time is seven minutes from call to arrival on scene, that is very reasonable, especially outside an urban area. If you mean it takes seven minutes for a crew to get from home to the ambulance, and then however long to drive to the call, that's a problem.

My squad faced the same issue, and the solution was for the duty crew to stay at the squad building. That required some investment in turning the squad building into a place where you wouldn't mind staying - TV, couches, redoing the day room. A bunk room would be a really good thing, but that will have to wait until we can do some capital fundraising.

Another thing you can do is actively recruit new volunteers in the community. Emphasize the good work you do, the fact that you provide training (assuming you do, as most volunteer organizations have that as a 'perk'), and that you have openings. See if the local paper will run an ad for you, etc.

Going paid may or not be a solution, and its something that has to be looked at carefully. Any number of places have gone from volunteer to paid service and regretted it, because they costs of administering the system and paying the staff exceed the amount raised by charging for their call volume (especially with ever-dropping medicare and medicaid reimbursement rates). So, it's not the pancea that some people here would have you believe.

Paid or not, though, I think you need to emphasize professionalism - which has nothing to do with whether you get paid for your time.

Good luck. It's probably a long road, but if you're willing to beat your head against the wall for a while, you can make some progress.