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The National Volunteer Fire Council’s (NVFC) Volunteer Advocacy Committee announced the launch of a web page that is intended as an informational resource for volunteer emergency responders who find themselves under pressure to give up or reduce their involvement in volunteering. The page, located at www.nvfc.org/volunteeradvocacy, features a confidential form that volunteers can use to communicate directly with the Committee about problems that they are experiencing, as well as links to articles, reports, and other information related to the right of individuals to volunteer.

 

“Too often, individuals are discouraged or even prohibited from volunteering by employers, unions, or in some cases volunteer fire/EMS departments, and find themselves with little recourse,” said NVFC Virginia Director and Volunteer Advocacy Committee Chairman Allen Brennan. “We hope that with this online resource, we can initiate a national conversation about issues that impede the ability of volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel from pursuing their right to fully participate in the activities and operations of their local emergency services agency.”

 

One of the issues that this new resource is designed to address is the problem of career firefighters being prohibited from volunteering during off-duty hours by their employer or union. According to the Government Accountability Office, there are close to 30,000 career firefighters across the country that volunteer as firefighters when they are off-duty. These individuals are commonly referred to as “two-hatters.”

 

Jim Seavey, a two-hatter that serves as the NVFC’s Maryland Alternate Director and is a member of the Volunteer Advocacy Committee, was named Fire Chief Magazine’s Volunteer Fire Chief of the Year at the Fire-Rescue International trade show in Dallas, TX, in August. In his acceptance speech, Seavey, who in 2003 was brought up on charges that were eventually dropped by the International Association of Fire Fighters for his service as a volunteer firefighter, alluded to his ordeal and called on the nation’s fire service “to resolve the two-hatter controversy.”

 

“The tens of thousands of career firefighters, who on their days off devote themselves for their communities within which they grew up or now reside, deserve it,” said Seavey. “Such service is much more than a simple human right and dignity; it is a passion for those that feel the call to do so. How can anyone conscientiously attempt to strip a fellow human being’s passion?”

 

Access the new web page at www.nvfc.org/volunteeradvocacy. If you are a volunteer firefighter or EMS responder and feel that your ability to continue volunteering is being undermined, use the confidential form to contact the Volunteer Advocacy Committee. The Committee also hopes that volunteers and members of the public alike will use the newly established resource to learn more about the challenges that volunteer emergency responders face in pursuing their right to serve their communities.