Dakota City hosts conference
And yet another NSVFA conference is in the books! I want to thank the Dakota City Fire Department for a great conference. The hospitality that was shown by Clint and his members was outstanding! I also want to thank Taylor, Kelsey, and Jen from AAM (the association office in Milford) for all they do for the NSVFA. It’s all the, behind the scenes, things that they do that makes everything from our meetings on zoom to Fire School happen with the upmost professionalism. I also want to thank the vendors that were present during conference.
I was re-elected, for this time a three-year term, during conference. This is a change to the by-laws made last year during conference to change the office of secretary treasure from a 1-year term to a 3-year term. I want to thank all who supported me the last two years and I look forward to serving you for the next 3 years.
Lots of “stuff” happening in the State of Nebraska in regards to Fire and EMS. The NSVFA E-Board will continue to stay on top of anything that will affect the members of this Association. Please let the office know what we can do to help your department or Mutual Aid District. This includes one of the E-Board members attending your meetings or events to let you know the latest information we have. This also allows us to learn more of what is going on across the state.
Some of the “stuff” happening in regards to EMS is the interim study being sought by State Sen. Dorn of Adams to address a shortage of volunteers for local EMS services in the State. Sen. Dorn himself is an EMT on Adams Rescue. Some of the topics were the need for more volunteers, Training requirements, along with other information on EMS including finding.
Governor Pillen organized a Fire and EMS summit in Broken Bow a few weeks ago which several key leaders from across the State and several agencies, local and state, were involved in discussion of several topics that are affecting Fire and EMS services in the state. A task force has been formed to keep this discussion moving forward.
These task forces are going to need your input!! Please let the E-Board, office, or your local area rep at your next mutual aid meeting know your thoughts. Good or bad we need your input. We don’t want to let this drop as it seems to have in the past. We need to move forward and soon. It may be a family member, a friend, or you that needs that fire or EMS response and we need to make sure that someone is coming.
More responsibility was added to the C.A.R.E.S. committee by our President elect Shad Bryner. This committee, on top of the current responsibility of being available to help our members during a personal or department crises, will also now work on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (or DEI) for the Association. The International Association of Fire Chiefs recently released a report, which is available on line, on volunteer and combination departments’ diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts to help improve their recruitment and retention efforts, particularly as they relate to groups that traditionally have been underrepresented in the fire-EMS service. Some of the findings in this report include:
• Many respondents do not believe their department’s DEI initiatives have been effective.
• More than half of the respondents have had personal experience with discrimination, bullying and/or hazing in their department.
• Respondents from traditionally underrepresented groups in the fire service reported a less positive experience at their departments.
• Common misperceptions about DEI are still prevalent in the fire service.
Please contact the committee or myself if you have any questions. Justin Scamehorn, one of our NVFC Directors, also is on the NVFC DEI committee and would be available for assistance as well.
Conference next year is in Gering. Start to make plans to attend. We have over 9,000 members and were only seeing approximately 130 members attend the last few years. That’s only 1.5 percent of the membership that is giving us input during our sessions at conference and voting! We need your input to keep the volunteer fire and EMS services going in this State.
Thanks for all you do for your departments and your communities. Please stay safe.
Mark Meints,
NSVFA Secretary/Treasurer