By Matt Hubbard
Baltimore Sun
HARFORD COUNTY, Md. — Since Harford County government took over emergency medical services two years ago, recruitment and retention of volunteers has been impacted, according to John Gallagher, president of the Harford County Fire and Emergency Medical Services Association.
“Participation of volunteers was weak before then and has dropped off significantly since then,” he said.
Gallagher outlined current staffing, plans and challenges for the association during his annual update to the Harford County Council Tuesday night. Across the 12 volunteer fire companies in the county, Gallagher said the association has 1,536 members — 933 of whom are active.
The association tracks calls for service on an annual basis that ending Sept. 30.
The most recent report states that there were 10,965 total fire calls and 3,741 EMS calls in the year that just ended. The association also received 232 calls for box fires — 72 of which turned out to be actual fires.
In Bel Air, the association found that fire companies get an average of 7.1 fire calls per day. In other parts of the county like Norrisville , Gallagher said there are only about 0.04 calls per day, which poses a challenge for volunteer retention.
“Slower companies have an issue trying to keep members engaged because there is just not enough activity for them,” Gallagher said. “Members want to go on calls, not sit around the firehouse for days at a time.”
Gallagher said busy companies also have challenges. More than 45% of their calls are “nuisance calls” for things such as automatic alarms, vehicle accidents, false alarms, gas alarms and EMS assistance.
“It is hard to keep 20- and 30-year-olds engaged when you are just running multiple calls a day doing lift assist for overweight patients or gas leaks,” Gallagher said.
Before volunteers can ride out to calls, they need to complete training. For Firefighter 1, volunteers are required to complete 135 hours. For EMS, volunteers need 207 hours.
Scheduling classes and the time commitment required by volunteers before stepping foot in an emergency vehicle has posed a challenge for the association, according to Gallagher.
To overcome the challenge, the association is working with the Harford County Department of Emergency Services to offer more classes and create a flexible schedule that wouldn’t pose as much of a time challenge for volunteers.
Once volunteers complete training, they are entitled to numerous benefits including a $7,000 state income tax deduction, health, life and disability insurance, discounts on education and housing and more. The incentives have been a major benefit to the association in retention and assistance, Gallagher said; however, the funding received this year for the program will not be enough to cover the entire year.
Gallagher speculated that the association will be $120,000 to $150,000 short on funding by the end of the fiscal year. Part of the association’s multi-faceted plan for recruitment and retention will be to request that the county fully fund the program during the next fiscal year.
The association is hosting open house events every weekend in October at the Whiteford Volunteer Fire Company, Susquehanna Hose Company and the Darlington Volunteer Fire Company. Find the schedule at https://harfordvolunteer.com/events.
To learn more about volunteer fire and EMS opportunities in Harford County visit Harfordvolunteer.com.
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