This week’s “My turn”
column is by Richard J.
Bell, director and fire coordinator
for the Delaware
County Department of
Emergency Services.
When I look at our
volunteer fire and EMS
system, I see a system
that has stood the test of
time, but is up against
some of the most crippling
obstacles that it has
ever faced.
I see a system that
depends entirely on the
support of
the community
in
which it
operates,
not only
financial
support,
but more
so in
personnel
support providing volunteers
to respond to the
ever-increasing number
of emergency calls.
It is often taken for
granted that someone
will show up during a
time of need. We ask a
great deal of our volunteer
fire service _
including responding to
trees down in the road,
motor vehicle accidents,
fires, floods and medical
emergencies.
The question that I
often ask is _ just how
much is the volunteer
fire and EMS community
worth to us as citizens
and taxpayers?
Recently, I came
across an article titled,
“The Value of a Volunteer.”
An interesting
statistic that the independent
sector has developed
is that the cost of a
volunteer hour is projected
to be $20.25.
This number, of
course, needs to be adjusted
slightly given the
region in which you live,
but it gives us a starting
point.
Let’s think about this
from a countywide perspective.
Let’s say that a
county dispatches about
9,000 fire and EMS calls
annually. If on average
five responders came
to each call and averaged
two hours per call
at $20.25 per hour, this
would total more than
$1.8 million for the hours
volunteered.
This still does not include
equipment, buildings
and 24-hour-a-day,
seven-day-a week hourly
pay for a paid fire/EMS
service. These are just
some figures to get you
thinking about what kind
of service the volunteers
are providing to our communities.
In Delaware County,
we have about 1,200
members of the volunteer
fire and EMS service.
We have not only seen a
steady decline in membership,
but more and
more difficulty getting
enough emergency volunteer
responders to the
call of duty.
That, coupled with
the escalating number of
emergency requests for
help, has increased the
demand for emergency
response volunteers.
We all too often forget
about the birthday parties
that volunteers miss,
the Christmas mornings
with children waiting
for Mom or Dad to get
home, or the late arrival
at a graduation party
because they responded
to help a neighbor in
distress.
So, the next time you
see a volunteer firefighter
or an emergency
medical service provider
on the street, say “Thank
you!” and as you turn
to walk away, perhaps
you will say to yourself;
“Maybe I should volunteer
a little of my time as
well!”
As Winston Churchill
once stated, “We make a
living by what we get, but
we make a life by what
we give.”
To write for “My turn,”
contact Daily Star Publisher
Tanya Shalor at
tshalor@thedailystar.com
or 432-1000, ext. 214.
