AGENDA DATE: 10/7/2015
TITLE:
Title
Volunteer Health and Welfare Report - 2015
BODY
SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Annual Report of the Volunteer Fire and EMS System to the Board of Supervisors by the Fire and EMS (FEMS) Board and Albemarle County Fire Rescue
ITEM TYPE: Regular Information Item
STAFF CONTACT(S): Dan Eggleston, Tom LaBelle
PRESENTER (S): Tom LaBelle
LEGAL REVIEW: No
REVIEWED BY: Thomas C. Foley
BACKGROUND: Albemarle County Code ? 6-107 sets forth certain specific responsibilities of the Fire and Emergency Medical Services (FEMS) Board. One responsibility of the FEMS Board is to "...report at least annually to the board of supervisors regarding the health and welfare of the volunteer system." Accordingly, FEMS Board members and County staff have worked collaboratively to prepare the 2015 Report on the Health and Welfare of the Volunteer Fire and EMS System.
STRATEGIC PLAN: This information aligns with efforts outlined in Goal 7: Operational Capacity. To help ensure the services currently provided to existing residence in both rural and development areas are available in the future, a vibrant volunteer emergency provider base is necessary.
DISCUSSION: The 2015 report focuses on goals set in the 2014 report. Accordingly, the Fire and EMS (FEMS) Board and the Health and Wellness Report Committee both indicated that previous attempts at recruiting had focused on volunteering for the Albemarle County Fire Rescue (ACFR) System as a whole. The 2014 report outlined two specific strategies; 1- All volunteerism is local; and 2- A focus on pathways.
All volunteerism is local means that ACFR's marketing efforts moving forward focuses on the branding of individual stations rather than ACFR as a whole. A focus on pathways means, as a system, we focus on the "onboarding" of volunteers. This onboarding includes data entry, background checks, ID production, gear/equipment distribution, and physicals. It is recognize...
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