Welcome Packages For New Recruits
When a new member joins your department, what do you give him or her to familiarize them with your Fire Department and how it operates? How do you select your new members and how do you prepare them for what they are signing up for? Many departments have a formal interview, background check and even a testing process. Others simply require just an application and a vote of the membership.
It is always a good idea to make sure your new recruits know exactly what they are signing up for. It is just as important that their family knows the same. Doing this will save the recruit, and the Fire Department a lot of time, money and effort if it doesn’t pan out. The National Volunteer Fire Council offers a free guide on their website for family members of new volunteer Firefighters. It can be downloaded for free here.
After glancing through this, it made me wonder how individual Fire Departments welcome their new members. Do you offer them a welcoming package? It sure is something to think about. I may recruit a few members to draft something up for my own Fire Department this winter.
