Articles

By David Denniston, EISP Director of Risk Management Twenty-twenty is a year we will tell our kids and grandkids about for years. This great nation of ours saw a pandemic rock our economy and our communities. We witnessed an election that got uglier by the minute and that never seemed…

By Ali Rothrock, On the Job and Off For the last decade or so, I have been sharing the story of my early experiences in the fire service. While I’ve enjoyed being an active member of many wonderful firehouses, I wasn’t so lucky at the beginning of my career. Because…

By David Denniston, Association of Fire Districts of the State of New York Director In this series to date, we have explored the topic of recruitment and retention by evaluating your needs, setting expectations and completing performance reviews of your membership. In the final installment of this series, we will…

By Shane M. Liebler, Senior Editor At South Lockport, the side of the rig promises the fire company is “Fully Staffed by Professional Volunteers.” While recruitment difficulties common to all of the volunteer fire service these days challenge the “fully staffed” portion of that mantra, the statement is emphatically true.…

By David Denniston, Association Of Fire Districts of the State of New York Director If you have been following this series, by now hopefully you have started evaluating your recruitment and retention program. We have discussed having a game plan and the need to set clear expectations of your new…

By Past Chief Tim Boel, VFIS Every day, emergency responders potentially put themselves in harm’s way for the safety of others in the task of protecting our communities. VFIS takes pride in insuring North America’s heroes as the largest provider of insurance, education and consulting services to emergency service organizations…

By Timothy C. Hannigan, FASNY Attorney As volunteer firefighters, each of us knows of a fellow firefighter – whether in our own firehouse or in a neighboring department – whose personal vehicle features a blue light package worth more than the vehicle itself. But is that light setup legal? Probably…

By David Denniston, Association of Fire Districts of the State of New York Director Welcome back! In the last issue, we laid out a game plan to evaluate your department’s recruitment and retention efforts. We explored the idea that recruitment may actually be the easier part of this process. You…

By Dr. Asa Don Brown, Ph.D., C.C.C., D.N.C.C.M., F.A.A.E.T.S. First responders are often compelled to be compassionate, but not all first responders can relate to compassion. While the field encourages compassion, do you really know and fully understand what it is to be compassionate? There is often confusion around the…