With help from SAFER grant

RITTMAN — Seven new firefighters are responding to calls across the city, part of an effort by the fire and EMS department to recruit 17 volunteers by the end of 2022.

Rittman Fire and EMS is in the middle of its four-year, $641,000 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant awarded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the recruitment and retention of volunteers firefighters in 2018.

The grant has allowed Rittman to fund the training, physicals and gear for the new recruits as well as launch an advertising campaign for recruitment. The department hired a marketing firm to develop recruiting videos and a new website to encourage more people in the community to join the department. Funds also paid for a new LED sign in front of the station.

“There’s no way we could have done this without the assistance of FEMA,” said Andy Baillis, recruitment and retention coordinator for Rittman Fire and EMS.

The federal grant requires no matching funds from the city but does require the recruitment of those 17 firefighters for reimbursement. The grant allowed the department to create Baillis’ coordinator position and the goal is to work that position into the city’s budget when the grant expires in 2022. Wages for the new recruits are already built into the budget.

“The biggest thing will be building a budget to hire three people a year or whatever our plan is to make sure we can train them because there won’t be that pool of money to send them to school and buy them gear,” Sweigert said.

The grant is geared toward recruiting and retaining firefighters, but Rittman Fire and EMS allows its members to volunteer only as a firefighter or only as an emergency medical technician. As new recruits become firefighters, some see the benefit of having their EMT certification too because the department responds to more medical emergencies than fire calls.

“Most departments around us are requiring them to be dual disciplined,” Sweigert said. “We felt in our discussions that there are some really good EMTs out there that may not want to be a firefighter. There are some really good firefighters that may not want to be an EMT. So let’s take the best of those folks and use that to our advantage.”

Baillis added, “On any call, there’s going to be a position for everyone … That’s the beauty of this system.”

During the course of the grant, the department also has added four new members trained only in emergency medical services. Four people have left, either to join the military or retire. Rittman also has benefited from new recruits already trained and looking for a new opportunity.

The department has seen great success in its volunteer retention. According to Baillis, the average career expectancy of a volunteer firefighter is five years. Rittman’s average is well over seven although the new recruits have skewed that number. The investment in safety gear fitted specifically to the firefighter’s body type makes it important to retain those members.

“We want to make sure we keep them because we’re going to invest $3,000 in them. That gear isn’t going to fit somebody else necessarily because it’s made specifically for them,” Sweigert said.

Sweigert also wants to staff at least a two-man team overnight. The station is staffed during the day and the average response time is 1.3 minutes. Between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., the average response time is 8.5 minutes as volunteers have to respond to the station first to pick up a squad or grab their turnout gear.

Currently, the department pays volunteers to stay at the station during the 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. shift. Overnight, volunteers are paid $1 per hour to be on call. If they receive an emergency call, they will be paid the normal hourly rate for the duration of the call.

“This saves the city significant expenses but it also creates a longer response time that we will be addressing in the coming years,” Sweigert said.

The department may consider additional levy funds in the future to support staffing around the clock. It also will need to consider whether the department can sustain the coordinator position for recruitment and retention and if it can take over the marketing plan already in place.

“Hopefully, we’re able to show the value in what we’re doing and get the support from the community,” Baillis said.

Reach Emily Morgan at 330-287-1632 or [email protected]. On Twitter: @mogie242.

CREDIT: EMILY MORGAN