Every day, state and local government officials make difficult decisions that impact the lives of citizens across the country. From balancing budgets to ensuring public safety throughout their localities, these leaders are constantly tasked with meeting the needs of their communities.

Public safety agencies nationwide are constantly looking for ways to improve the efficiency, fairness, and safety of their scheduling policies. Adding off-duty programs not only increases scheduling complexities, but also adds risks and potential liability. It’s imperative to have well defined, enforceable polices in place to help mitigate these risks.

Although professional standards require at least 30 firefighters to battle the blaze that erupted in a 100-unit apartment building in Illinois, only five firefighters were available to respond. This is just one example of the impact of firefighter shortages that affect communities across the US. The fire service is a demanding and challenging profession that requires a high level of commitment and dedication. Fire departments must be proactive in their efforts to recruit and retain firefighters.  We've gathered a few tips below from fire chiefs and IAFC for managing recruitment, retention, and volunteer firefighters.

As a police, fire, or other public safety agency your mission is to protect the life and property of the public citizens within your jurisdiction. Thanks to technological advances over the last few decades, your department has become increasingly dependent on its information technology systems in order to deliver on this mission. 

The inevitable truth of working in public safety is that many employees will deal with fatigue, stress, sleep deprivation, and more at one time or another. As departments and agencies across the country face staff shortages, fatigue management has reached a tipping point.

Public safety managers are no stranger to the impact these jobs can have on the human body. Over time, these underlying and often hidden problems turn into chronic stress which can lead to burnout, and worse, detrimental health issues.

Firefighters don’t just put out fires anymore. Today, they provide vital support in medical emergencies, public safety, rescue efforts, disposition of hazardous materials, and active shooter/hostile events responses as well as perform fire inspections, community training, and much more.

With all of these responsibilities, it’s important to record and monitor fire department data. Fire service data analytics can help fire chiefs and firefighters more effectively save lives, protect property, and safeguard their communities. Here are four performance metrics that fire chiefs should be monitoring.

First-line supervisors in public safety understand how critical it is to build strong relationships with their teams. Public safety employees rely heavily on each other and their supervisors to ensure they make it home safely at the end of their shift.

Whether you work for a fire department, law enforcement, or EMS, relationships are built on trust and strong leadership. With an operational workforce management system in place, more time can be spent fostering these relationships while optimizing employee productivity. Less time can be spent on staffing, budgets, recruiting, human resources management, and operational analytics.

Across the country, public safety agencies are rolling up their sleeves, sharpening their pencils, and prioritizing essential public services amid the uncertainty of their budgets. Budget cuts are being proposed across the board, sometimes as high as 50%. That is not the norm, but any cut to an agency's budget hits hard. Leaders must be creative when working on their fiscal budgets, and many have found that leveraging their data helps make strategic decisions.

About half of protective service and military workers report not getting enough sleep, representing a higher rate of sleep deprivation than any other occupation. This statistic is especially concerning given the vital role this workforce plays in protecting public safety and health. It’s understandable that public safety workers would struggle to get enough sleep.  Working 12-hour and rotational shifts that are combined with the unpredictability of being on call can disrupt the body’s natural circadian rhythm. Assignments can involve shift hold-overs, traumatic encounters, and high levels of stress.

Ask any administrator for a list of their top 5 concerns, and it is sure to include the recruitment and retention of their workforce. It does not matter what facet of public safety you work in or where you are. Whether you are the warden at a large prison or chief at a local fire department, staffing is always a concern. Finding and keeping qualified employees is something that keeps agency leaders up at night.