Rural communities recruiting fire and EMS responders to fill open positions
TEXAS PANHANDLE -- Rural fire and EMS departments all over the Texas Panhandle are always looking to fill positions, but right now the immediate needs are prompting heavy recruitment.
I recently spoke to several fire chiefs in the area and asked about available positions and needs. Just about every community I checked with have current openings and are looking to hire. Keep in mind that the smaller communities like Panhandle, Clarendon and towns similar in size typically run a paid EMS department, but only operate volunteer fire departments.
According to some fire officials, volunteering in general is declining right now. If you live in a community like this, now may be a good time to check in and see if they could use an extra set of hands willing to serve.
Communities like Perryton and Pampa are a little different in the fact that they do have paid firefighters and EMS responders. Both have openings are looking for people to get involved. So much so, they both offer a recruitment program that actually pays for certifications, education, and training. You would also be pulling in a salary in the meantime.
"If we can get them to come to work for us we'll pay for their education to get the EMS certification and also fire certification and hopefully have them, since they're from the area, Perryton, or small communities that they would like to relocate and be apart of our department," said Perryton fire chief and EMS director, Paul Dutcher.
"It is challenging to fill firefighter positions in the rural areas of the Panhandle, a lot of our applicants are younger single guys that don't necessarily want to move away from a bigger city, to get them to move to a smaller community is harder to do," said Dutcher.
Day to day operations become more difficult when departments are short staffed. "It defintely doesn't help when we are short staffed, we have to make adjustments on our shifts on a day to day basis," said Dutcher.
Perryton is not alone, "If you don't have enough people to do the job then we have to call in more and more help," said Pampa fire chief, Kim Powell.
Pampa and Dumas both have openings, even if it is just one position, and being short a person isn't that unusual, the recruitment is the same. To find willing folks to relocate to a small community is tough sometimes.
"For us that is a long process, can take up to six months to get somebody," said Powell.
"More often than not we're hiring someone with no prior training," said Powell.
Some communties in the area are not in bad shape, Dumas even with a position open is doing well, Panhandle has a full staff of volunteers along with Donley county. Amarillo is in good shape, the academies are full and a line is forming to get into the department, but just thirty minutes to an hour away the situation is a lot different.
To me this is very interesting, in times like this when so many companies are downsizing or laying off employees, here are worthwhile, fulfilling occupations needing willing folks to step in and fill openings.
"I do think it's a wonderful idea to look into this, because we do have positions, we would love to talk with these people, we do an informational meeting where they can learn something about the fire service and see if that suits them long before they submit an application," said Powell.
In short, if your willing to relocate to a smaller community within the area, opportunity may await in the form of EMS positions and firefighting positions. Give some of these communities a call and check in to see if you might be qualified to start the training and education process. In the end you may be able to fill one of these open positions.
