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“I
think whatever can be done at this point to help with
recruitment and retention is a good thing,” Schott told The
Center Square. “Every step we can take to help is vital. We’re
in a crisis and not just in fire service, but in emergency
service. The EMS world is hurting for volunteers as well.”
With fire departments across the state faced with the same
staffing issues, state Sen. Patrick Joyce, D-Essex, sponsored
Senate Bill 1611, which paves the way for state employees to
leave their jobs to attend firefighter training.
As part of his effort, Joyce is also sponsoring Senate Joint
Resolution 7, which creates the Recruiting and Retaining Public
Employee Firefighters and Paramedics Task Force in hopes of
enhancing recruitment and highlighting eligible applicants.
Through it all, Schott said it’s become clear to him that all
fine-tuning efforts need to start at the same place.
“We need to be working with sociologists and psychologists to
figure out this younger generation,” Schott said. “They do
things differently, and we need to figure out what the reward
system is … I think we need to do a little more figuring out the
18- to 30-year-olds coming into the system. What makes them tick
and what type of reward system we need to be looking at for
them.”
With SB1611 now in effect, Schott said one of the changes he
would like to see implemented is the creation of some type of
retirement benefits system for longtime fire service volunteers.
“I think we need to continue to evolve,” he added. “Our
legislators need to understand that volunteer fire service is
critical. Depending on where you get your information from, 70
to 75% of the firefighters in Illinois are volunteer. Any
legislation that can be drafted and passed to help the volunteer
fire service is absolutely critical.”
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