FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ark. — Franklin County Emergency Medical Services has put out a plea for volunteer firefighters to join local departments. Emergency Management Coordinator and Fire Services Coordinator for Franklin County Rick Covert said local firefighters are hard to come by because of weekday work schedules. He said most people have jobs that prohibit them from leaving for an emergency.
“Volunteer firefighters are on call all day every day. It's emergency services— emergencies don't take a break on holidays and weekends," said Covert.
Since Franklin County is a rural area, Covert said these firefighters would also be trained to be emergency medical responders, able to handle things until an EMT or paramedic arrived.
“They're on the scene ahead of EMS sometimes, and they can get a patient stabilized or even packaged and ready to be loaded into an ambulance. They perform CPR, control, bleeding, and just start giving a size up," said Covert.
The departments are struggling to recruit younger people. He said they want at least 15-20 people at each station.
“You know, it's a huge commitment. And if you're trying to work, start a family, and have other things going on in your life, it's it takes a lot of balance to do that" said Covert.
This issue isn't just in Franklin County. Seth Rainwater, who is a full-time firefighter in El Dorado, and president of the Arkansas Professional Firefighters Association said they are seeing staffing shortages all across the state.
“We’ve seen the numbers, and even larger cities that have always had a huge testing base, their numbers are even dwindling down," said Rainwater. “You have more guys leave the fire service because they can't get the time off they want. Because they're so understaffed, and so it's just a problem that continually perpetuates itself.”
He said you can apply with no experience.
“I think most people don't realize is that you don't have to have the training to get hired, we will hire you and then send you to the training," said Rainwater.
Both Covert and Rainwater said if you are interested, you can contact your local fire department. If you want to serve in other ways, they encourage it.
“If you talk to your local fire chief, some representative department, they could tell you what they need help with besides getting out there and dragging hoses and putting the wet stuff on the hot stuff," said Covert. “There's definitely a place for everyone, depending on what type of background that you have.”
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