SES/CFS Recruiting

[uniden]

MFS: *CFSRES INC022 26/04/08 08:29,RESPOND STORM DAMAGE,73 GLADSTONE AV,MAGILL MAP 120 A 4,CAM020 DEFAULTED TO TTG. 1 CAM MEMBER I,NVESTIGATING WATER INTO HOME, PWR TRIPPE,D NOW ISOL. P2 MRS HOPE 83326746,TTG020 SES Tea Tree Gully Response

How hard is it to recruit volunteers nowadays? People seem to have less leisure time and are less willing to volunteer. Am I wrong?

I am guessing that it would be particularly difficult in the urban areas. Whilst there are more people, city people can be less likely to volunteer for these organisations. Also considering the amount of time people commit to commuting to and from work, leaving them even less available time.

Of course there are no easy answers to this, paid SES units maybe??

[Zippy]

maybe a few more MFS crew's with more Rescue/Salvage capability's would work. but when it comes to MFS appliance availability for lesser priority jobs its random

[chook]

The problem is not just lack of volunteers, but what we do with them once we get them in the door!
Metro units have plenty of bodies - 30 to 40 at least, its that most units run duty crews so not everyone in the unit has a pager(explains those weird pager messages ).
So if you are the duty crew & everytime you are on, nothing happens its hard to stay motivated.
Also we make people jump through hoops i.e after basic skills & induction, comms, map reading, senior first aid & General Rescue Module one (the old basic), then we let people do the courses which are used on a day to day basis (Storm damage, Chainsaw, Land Search & after Advanced tools RCR). No wonder people don't hang around! Over the past 12 months I have had a couple of people transfer from other units (both Metro & non RCR rural) & they haven't got any qualifications! Now one I can understand (she isn't part of the unit anymore), but still I would expect that after six months, someone should have got these people through at least Induction!
So why is this happening?
1 Not enough qualified instructors, both paid and volunteer.
2 Unit officers not organising the correct training of their people!
3 Unit officers that have to learn the hard way how to do the job i.e no training for officers.
4 Payed staff having to cover too many bases at the same time, so many good projects are started but not completed, meetings postponed etc. Not enough staff!
5 Politics & Personalities - need I say more!
6 Finally unit managers having too much on their plate while at the same time dealing with all of the other stuff that comes with the job!
I could say more, but I think you get the picture. To attract and retain volunteers, we need to make it as easy as possible. Courses need to be relevant & meet the needs of the individual & the service, without extra crap to make it last 2 days or thats the way we have always done it.
Recent courses I have assisted with, have been on or my members have attended meet the above criteria & not one person has said any different.
For those who are reading this and wondering what is he on about, take a look around you & ask yourself this question "Does what we doing meet the requirements to forfill our role, while meeting the needs of our members or are we just stuffing people around?".
Anyway as I said in another post we are working towards fixing some of the above issues in this region, its just a pity I won't be around to see if it all works.
By the way Stop calls all of the time don't help
cheers

[Pipster]

Or could it be that members are getting a bit tired of chasing around after people who perhaps need to help themselves, and do simple thing like clean their gutters, rather than wait for their gutters to overflow, and then call on Emergency services to fix the problem for them for free?

Having said that, I don't know anything about the call listed, and I don't intend to suggest that what I have outlined above is actually the case in this instance.

However, if your service starts to become nothing but a free gardening & maintenance service for people who simply expect that you do the work for free, and right now, and fail to take any responsibility for solving the problem, is it any wonder sometimes the service just doesn't go?

Pip

[safireservice]

Of course there are no easy answers to this, paid SES units maybe??

What a bizzare statement!
You could have also included MFS retained in your heading as some of them have trouble attracting people also dont they?

[uniden]

Of course there are no easy answers to this, paid SES units maybe??

What a bizzare statement!
You could have also included MFS retained in your heading as some of them have trouble attracting people also dont they?

Dont default though..
Makes more sense than paid cfs crews.

[chook]

Yep you are right SAMFS(retained) has trouble attracting & keeping people in some areas, $ are not always the answer.
And Pip the glorified gardening service doesn't cut it, otherwise why does the CFS have similar problems? I know brigades who couldn't get people, then got heaps but couldn't retain them! Similar reasons why we can't, we must have something credable to offer, which may not need to be financial. Modern people want to be lead by competent people, trained properly and doing something useful! Instead sometimes the opposite happens, then we wonder why people can't be bothered! Anyway in other states where SES units don't do rescue, they attract large numbers and retain them! Why? Because they are appreciated, by the government, councils & communities - instead of the volunteer associations trying to raise the service profile which happens in this state! If you don't believe me have a read of the NSW SES mag on their website - its good stuff!
Anyway I think I have said enough.
cheers

[Cameron Yelland]

Of course there are no easy answers to this, paid SES units maybe??

What a bizzare statement!
You could have also included MFS retained in your heading as some of them have trouble attracting people also dont they?

Dont default though..
Makes more sense than paid cfs crews.

There has been times when they should of though!

[bittenyakka]

we need to bring the Community and government support back into the brigade/units. Currently it seems that even the community we serve and protect by giving up our time don't really understand the hardships that the government are throwing our way. Not to mention live in a dreamworld the the erickson solves everything.

[bajdas]

Quite a few metro SES Units had a busy weekend with multiple calls over a long period. Not a huge rush, but one or two taskings at a time constantly during the whole weekend.

The 'ceiling wet & bowing' is a long job to make safe on roof & within the room. Have a few of them during two days and the crew gets tired.

For crew safety caused by fatigue, at least two of the smaller Units began to default on taskings to other Units. The taskings were re-assigned via Central Region HQ.

Unfortunately, many Units cannot continue after 36 hours of operation because they do not have enough volunteers for crew rotation.

I partially agree with Chook, but other reasons also exist. But if I state my beliefs in a public forum, I will get told off again. Hopefully they will fix the issues 'one step at a time'.....

[chook]

I know about the other reasons mate However for similar reasons thought better than airing those publically.
May be the vollie charter (which has just been sent to all Unit managers & deputies) will fix the problem!
Unless the ego's are removed from the services, then nothing will change.
Again as a service we need to ask "WHAT CAN WE OFFER?".
cheers