The IAFC issued a strategic direction survey in late December/early January and a total of 595 members and 97 IAFC leaders responded. The information helped the board of directors revise the IAFC Strategic Direction document in late January. Here are some key findings.
Demographics
- 87% of members and 92% of leadership have 20+ years of fire service experience.
- 56% of responding members are fire chiefs, 31% chief officers, 6% company officers; among leadership, 69% are fire chiefs and 20% chief officers.
- Among members, 47% are with career departments, 39% combination and 11% volunteer; for leadership 47% are with career departments, 44% combination and 4% volunteer.
Firefighter Safety
- Most members (50%) say the IAFC should focus its efforts foremost on behavioral change, followed by expanded safety training programs (40%) and additional research on using new technologies to improve safety (36%). Among leadership, 53% ranked behavioral change first, followed by additional research (41%) and expanded safety training (31%).
Officer Development
- Members ranked a “very high” need for leadership training for company officers (64%) and chief officers (52%).
- 52% of members thought it “extremely valuable” for the IAFC to offer officer development training through regional, in-person events; 47% for online training. Among leadership, 46% ranked regional training as extremely valuable; 36% for online training.
Image of Fire Service
- 50% of members (51% of leadership) felt the IAFC should focus on the fire service image at all levels (regional/state/global); 26% of members said the focus should be on a combination of regional/state (24% leadership).
- In the open-ended question on this topic, both general membership and leadership say that the fire service cannot rely on the “hero” image any longer.
Succession Planning
- Only 22% of members reported that their department has a formal succession plan (28% of leadership).
- The need for succession planning for chief officers was identified as most critical – 57% among members (66% of leadership reported the same need).
Community Relevance
- 45% of members say their departments have a community engagement/outreach plan (63% of leadership).
- Only 30% of members say their departments regularly conduct citizen satisfaction surveys (41% of leadership).
- 51% use a data management system with GIS to assist in reviewing incidents to determine needs and gaps (58% of leadership).
Budgeting and Funding
- Within the organization, members say chief officers are the most frequent contributor to the budget process (92%).
- 70% of members say having a budget template specific to the fire service would help them in determining budget needs.
Fire Prevention
- 86% of members report their department has a formal fire prevention plan.
- 79% of members want to see the IAFC be a clearinghouse of best practices on this issue: (88% of leadership)
Other Challenges
- Even though budget matters were addressed earlier in the survey, the general membership group often sited money concerns in the other challenges faced open-ended question (Q30).
- Members want help with grants. This includes finding grants and assistance writing grant applications. The importance of training is often promoted, but there is little funding to seek additional training.
- While the leadership group is also concerned about money, their responses to this question more often cited forward-looking matters such as recruitment and retention, generation gaps, emerging technologies passing them by, and coping with long-term job stress.