VCOS

On February 10, 2012, Summit Lane Leaders met in Clearwater Beach, Florida to continue work on the final draft of the strategic plan and the operational plan, and to prepare a briefing for the VCOS board of directors meeting the next day. At this meeting, the group changed the operational plan name to the VCOS Vision Project and developed vision and mission statements, as follows: 

Vision:  Thriving volunteer and combination fire and emergency services organizations

Mission:  To produce a comprehensive framework to assist communities and their fire and emergency service leaders to create and maintain dynamic organizations.

Click here for a complete timeline for the VCOS Vision Project.

VCOS National Summit on Volunteerism Takes Place March 2011

On March 17-19, 2011, the Volunteer & Combination Officers Section (VCOS) of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) held a national Summit: “Constructing a National Blueprint for Expanding the Future of Volunteerism in the Emergency Service Community” in Washington, D.C.

The two-day summit featured a series of highly-regarded speakers from government, policy, and fire and emergency service arenas.  Participants addressed issues and concerns about volunteerism critical to the emergency response community as well as to our nation as a whole. While drawing on the knowledge and experience of volunteer leaders, the summit also reached out to emerging leaders, so that we would have their input, so critical for shaping the future.

Summit participation was by invitation only; the section reached out to all state fire chiefs associations and to the eight divisions of the International Association of Fire Chiefs asking them to submit the names of individuals to represent their state or division.

In 2004, the VCOS published the first of five industry-changing “ribbon” reports, “The Blue Ribbon Report: A Call to Action—Preserving and Improving the Future of the Volunteer Fire Service.” Since its release, that document has served as a blueprint for improving the volunteer fire service that is so essential to our nation, but too often finds itself underfunded and ill-equipped. One goal of the Summit is to bring that report to life and revitalize the effort to improve the “volunteer emergency services,” inclusive of volunteer, on-call and part-time personnel.

“Hosting a national summit has been a long-term vision of the VCOS leadership for many years, and that vision is now becoming a reality,” says Chief Timothy S. Wall, VCOS chair. “The ultimate goal of the summit is to examine the critical challenges that are faced by fire departments staffed by volunteer, on-call or part-time firefighters and help develop a long-term strategic plan to carry the volunteer fire service into the future and solidify its status.”

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, volunteer firefighters save the United States $37 billion each year, as they donate their time and their expertise to protect lives and property. Unfortunately, external forces – such as dwindling “spare” time, poor economic conditions, and increasing difficulty in making the long-term commitment to required training, etc. – have all conspired to tax these volunteers beyond their ability to keep up and are now stressing the communities that rely on them from coast to coast.

Even though 73 percent of all U.S. fire departments are still fully volunteer, and 93 percent rely on some volunteer members, the overall number of volunteer firefighters has declined by 10 percent since the 1980s, according to the United States Fire Administration.

“Volunteering with your local fire department is a long-standing tradition that makes our country truly great,” Chief Wall said. “But today that tradition is at risk as communities grow larger and citizens demand additional services. The individuals who volunteer struggle to manage their time while keeping a reasonable balance with all the other factors that make up their daily lives.”

VCOS thanks our many corporate partners who helped make the Summit possible

Platinum Sponsors:
National Fallen Firefighters Foundation
VFIS
Volunteer & Combination Officers Section

Silver Sponsors:
Fire Team USA
Iamresponding.com
Paratech
Provident

Summit Sponsors:
Alaska State Fire Chiefs Association
CRA
Darley
International Code Council
ISO
Motorola Solutions
Redden Group
TargetSafety