New push for recruitment in Centre County fire and EMS companies

Several fire and EMS companies in central Pennsylvania are taking on more dynamic recruitment campaigns to combat what the State Resolution 6 Commission report called a “crisis” of a woeful lack of funding for EMS and dramatically reduced volunteer numbers for fire companies.

Last week, Seven Mountains EMS Council — a grantee of the state Department of Health Bureau of EMS — launched a widespread recruitment campaign with Lynny Productions from Turbotville, Pennsylvania, throughout its nine-county region, which includes Centre County, called “Hear Our Stories.”

“We really wanted to gain and capture the heartfelt stories of why people got into EMS and what keeps them in EMS,” said Mark Wolfgang, Seven Mountains regional EMS education coordinator.

The campaign is aimed toward getting any person into EMS, whether as an EMT, paramedic, ambulance driver, pre-hospital Registered Nurse or large-vehicle mechanic, he said.

“The whole depiction that we want the general public to get from this is, ‘Yes this can be something difficult to get into ... but really anybody that wants to learn or wants to help, we can get you into the EMS system somehow,’ ” he said.

He cautioned, as the SR6 report does, that if fire and EMS services can’t increase their ranks, through a mix of volunteers and paid positions, communities will see mergers and the introduction of paid companies — which will inevitably take tax dollars.

“It’s that ever-impending fear of what if ... what if you call an ambulance and there’s nobody there?” he said.

Meanwhile, Alpha Fire Company in State College is in the middle of a large recruitment campaign aimed at using a series of different video, television and radio advertisements showcasing volunteer firefighters. The campaign, paid for by a five-year federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant, is in its last year.

“The federal money really lets us do a lot with the ads,” said Alpha Fire Chief Steve Bair.

Typically, said Bair, the fire company recruits three times a year — June, September and January — because of its size, the large volume of activity and shifting population. The most recent campaign began April 1, with the rollout of 15- and 30-second television commercials, 60-second radio commercials, interactive advertising, social media-based video teasers and a three-minute web movie about volunteers’ experience with Alpha.

Since the campaign launched, the number of people that have visited Alpha’s site to browse the membership page has gone up significantly, said Bair. The company has received four applications so far, but Bair said he expects to see more come May.

“Everything has been going really well ... you’re definitely seeing a bigger push (with this ad campaign),” he said.

This story was originally published April 28, 2019 at 9:11 AM.