Dension Fire Rescue recently held a push-in ceremony for its Engine 61. See photos of the event below:

“What a beautiful day it was for Denison Fire Rescue and the City of Denison! We have officially welcomed our brand new Engine 61 into the community.

“The traditional ‘Push-In’ Ceremony dates back to the 1800s when horses were used to pull the apparatuses. As you could imagine, it was challenging to get those horses to back the apparatus into the station, so they would disconnect the fire equipment and push the apparatus back into the bay. Today, we ‘push’ the new fire trucks into the bay to bless them and welcome them into the community.

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“DFR is extremely grateful to have the opportunity to serve the citizens of Denison with this new apparatus. Feel free to say hi and take a look if you see us out! #Denison150”

Spartan ER—Hartsdale (NY) Fire Department pumper. Gladiator cab and chassis; Cummins L9 450-hp engine; Waterous CSU 2,000-gpm pump; 650-gallon polypropylene water tank; 10-gallon foam cell; FoamPro 2001 single-agent foam system. Dealer: Brian Kuhn, Hendrickson Fire Rescue Equipment, Islandia, NY.

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Structural issues recently discovered at WF/RS Station Four have required the station’s closure to the public and firefighters’ relocation to an adjacent property. The building is being fully investigated by a structural engineer and geological expert to determine the full extent of the problem and the future of the station. For now, the engine and haz-mat response equipment will remain safely at the station, but the conditions required the firefighters to move into different living quarters.

The City’s Fire Marshalls office was previously located at Station Four and has been relocated to the Gig East Exchange at 127 Goldsboro Street Suite 205. The phone number remains 252-399-2880.

“Citizens will continue to be served by the same firefighters with the same response times through this change,” said WF/RS Chief Albert Alston. “The fire service operates 24/7 and our staff deserves a safe, comfortable environment to be able to be to operate at their best at all times. This change will guarantee our first responders have the work environment needed to serve Wilson’s citizens.”

The results of the investigation are expected in the next several weeks. Once the full findings are explained, the future of the station will be determined. The Wilson County Board of Elections has been notified that the station cannot be used as a polling place in the May 17 election.

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Emergency medical services (EMS) is a relatively new profession with its foundations in the late 1960s.¹ Today, almost every area of the United States enjoys EMS services, and the general public expects access to EMS. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (2019) reports that EMS work demands cognitive, physical, and emotional labor in a high-stress and unpredictable work environment. The EMS workforce is distributed among fire departments (48%), private ambulance companies (21%), governmental non-fire agencies (12%), hospitals (11%), air medical (3%), and other (5%) with the vast majority of EMS workers (72%) listing 911 response as their primary job function.²

There is also a significant part of the workforce that is volunteer or pseudo-volunteer. The majority of EMS workers are paid and are employed by municipal fire departments. The median annual salary for this group is $36,450.³ However, there exists a wide variance in the profession with regard to pay depending on geographical location, organization of the employing local government, and tenure. This complex landscape of subcategories within EMS confounds the study of the workforce.

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Traditionally, the public sector of the EMS workforce has been the highest paid and has enjoyed low turnover rates.⁴ However, the rate of retention for EMS workers in the public sector has declined dramatically in recent years.⁵ Simultaneously, the demand for EMS services in the U.S. is predicted to continue to increase substantially.³ A thorough understanding of the factors affecting the recruitment and retention of EMS workers is necessary to formulate effective strategies moving forward.

Recruitment

Many U.S. fire departments are finding it increasingly difficult to fill their paramedic positions.⁶ This phenomenon has created a need for EMS directors to delve into the unfamiliar area of recruiting. Many traditional economists would advise that increases in compensation are necessary to solve the problem. However, public service EMS employers are rarely in a position to change compensation packages to meet the needs of the job market. Additionally, compensation is generally limited to the ability of the organization to raise funds. Transport fees for EMS do generate revenue for both public and private providers. However, rates for these fees are tightly controlled by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the private healthcare industry. Change in that area is likely to come much too late to solve the current crises in EMS recruitment.⁴ Recruitment solutions may be linked to factors other than compensation.

The main motivator for workers seeking employment in public sector EMS has long been assumed to be exclusively public service motivation.⁷ Public service motivation is an intrinsic motivator that exists in some portion of the population which steers people toward public service jobs to suffice a desire to serve their community. Public service motivation has been well-studied and quantified. Public service motivation is required to fill EMS positions with relatively high job demands and low pay in the traditional rational economic view. Availability of education for EMS workers in