Volunteer fire departments can benefit from using FireJournal. The requirements for volunteer departments are just as complex as for metro career departments. In addition, you might be surprised by the number of volunteer firefighters in the United States.
According to the National Volunteer Fire Council, the United States is highly dependent on volunteers, noting:
- Volunteers comprise 70% of firefighters in the United States.
Of the total estimated 1,160,450 firefighters across the country, 814,850 are volunteer. - Communities served by volunteer firefighters depend on them to be their first line of defense for many types of emergencies.
Volunteer firefighters are summoned to a wide array of emergencies across the country every day including fires, emergency medical incidents, terrorist events, natural disasters, hazardous materials incidents, water rescue emergencies, high-angle and confined space emergencies, and other general public service calls. The public relies on the volunteer emergency services to be their first line of defense in these emergencies. Volunteers spend an enormous amount of time training to prepare for these emergencies. - The majority of fire departments in the United States are volunteer.
Of the total 29,727 fire departments in the country, 19,762 are all volunteer; 5,421 are mostly volunteer; 1,893 are mostly career; and 2,651 are all career.
Because most volunteer firefighters respond from their homes or places of work, having a personal journal that tracks training, incidents, and all things relates to the department they support is essential. Although there is a chain of command in all (or nearly all) fire departments, most members operate individually until there is either an organized training or department activity – or there is an incident.
PureCommand has developed some of the functionality within FireJournal to specifically assist volunteer firefighters. Not only as it relates to tracking incidents, managing work hours, incidents, and community events – but relative to cost as well. Remember, FireJournal is FREE. Even when additional capabilities come online in the fall, the cost will be so low that any volunteer firefighter will be able to learn, earn, and track all aspects of their career.
