Intensifying bushfires: Acknowledging the strain on our volunteers
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The early and ferocious start to the bushfire season in Australia this year has raised questions about the impact on those at the frontline – the tens of thousands of volunteers helping to put out the blazes.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In Australia, </span><a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/why-do-australia-s-bushfire-defences-rely-on-tens-of-thousands-of-volunteers"><span style="font-weight: 400;">the vast majority of bushfire fighters are volunteers</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. In the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, for instance, </span><a href="https://www.qfes.qld.gov.au/about/Documents/Volunteerism-Strategy.PDF"><span style="font-weight: 400;">volunteers account for 89% of the workforce</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And with fire seasons due to become longer and bushfires more intense due to the impacts of climate change, this will place even more demands on the men and women undertaking this vital and demanding work.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Given this, it’s important for us to understand how our worsening bushfires are affecting the mental and physical health of volunteers. Is this causing burnout? And if so, is that making it more difficult for fire and emergency services to recruit new volunteers and keep the ones they have?</span></p>
<p><strong>Challenges for volunteer recruitment and retention</strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Of course, the impact of today’s bushfires needs to be viewed within the context of other challenges to volunteer recruitment and retention.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Two of the key factors are greater competition for people’s time – for example, due to </span><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1464286705000173"><span style="font-weight: 400;">changes in the nature of paid work</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> – and the increasing difficulty of balancing work, family and volunteer commitments.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The </span><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FA%3A1023948027200"><span style="font-weight: 400;">ways people choose to volunteer are also changing</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Many people are choosing more flexible, shorter-term and cause-driven ways of volunteering and eschewing the kind of structured, high-commitment volunteering that is common in the emergency services.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At the same time, rural communities </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-rural-australia-is-facing-a-volunteer-crisis-95937"><span style="font-weight: 400;">are facing a shrinking volunteer base</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> as people either leave for better opportunities in cities or can no longer perform strenuous volunteering roles.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Meanwhile, a lot has been said about younger generations being less motivated by altruistic values to volunteer.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/stop-calling-young-people-apathetic-for-many-volunteering-and-activism-go-hand-in-hand-123754"><span style="font-weight: 400;">there is considerable evidence</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that younger people are highly committed to making a positive contribution to society. They are just doing it differently than their parents – they are tapping into the power of social media and working outside of formal, structured organisations.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Changes to emergency management services are also at play. </span><a href="https://www.bnhcrc.com.au/publications/biblio/bnh-5415"><span style="font-weight: 400;">One of the most significant shifts</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has been the professionalisation, corporatisation and modernisation of volunteer-based emergency services in recent years.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While this has undeniably brought improvements to volunteer safety and the quality of service, it has also caused headaches for volunteers in the form of more bureaucracy and additional training requirements.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There is a risk </span><a href="https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2019/06/apo-nid244761-1369896.pdf"><span style="font-weight: 400;">this could drive a wedge</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> between the corporate goals of fire and emergency service agencies that focus on risk management and efficiency, for example, and their more traditional, community-based roots – the reason many people choose to volunteer in the first place.</span></p>
<p><strong>Improving support for volunteers</strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This type of volunteering can be demanding. Bushfire volunteers face a range of significant stresses that can be </span><a href="https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=943666236119043;res=IELHSS"><span style="font-weight: 400;">physical</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.beyondblue.org.au/about-us/about-our-work/workplace-mental-health/pes-program/national-mental-health-and-wellbeing-study-of-police-and-emergency-services"><span style="font-weight: 400;">mental and emotional</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/apr/09/former-fire-chiefs-warn-australia-unprepared-for-escalating-climate-threat"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Volunteer fatigue and burnout are real concerns</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are also economic burdens for both volunteers and their employers, as well as strains on their family members.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Additionally, with the likelihood of more intense bushfires in the future, volunteers will increasingly be asked to </span><a href="https://www.vfbv.com.au/index.php/champs/urban/results/item/739-cfa-assistance-to-nsw"><span style="font-weight: 400;">travel outside their own communities</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to fight fires in other regions, further complicating their lives.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Having said this, support for volunteers is available and improving. In </span><a href="https://www.bnhcrc.com.au/research/resilience-hazards/3533"><span style="font-weight: 400;">my ongoing research</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> with other academics at the Bushfire and Natural Hazard Cooperative Research Centre, interviewees report improvements in operational equipment, technology and procedures that are enhancing volunteer safety.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Emergency services are also increasing mental health and well-being support for volunteers and developing </span><a href="https://www.ses.nsw.gov.au/media/2964/volunteering-reimagined-overview-paper.pdf"><span style="font-weight: 400;">more diverse and flexible ways</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for people to fit volunteering into their lives.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There is also a </span><a href="https://malechampionsofchange.com/groups/male-champions-change-fire-emergency/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">strong commitment</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to improving diversity and inclusion across the sector.</span></p>
<p><strong>The reasons people want to help</strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Even though fighting fires is obviously demanding work, it is also extremely fulfilling and rewarding. </span><a href="https://www.bnhcrc.com.au/publications/biblio/bnh-6012"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Core reasons</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that people choose to volunteer include helping the community, learning new skills, feeling useful and doing something worthwhile, and experiencing camaraderie with others.</span></p>
<p><a href="https://www.bnhcrc.com.au/research/resilience-hazards/3533"><span style="font-weight: 400;">In our ongoing research</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, we are consistently hearing that the personal fulfilment and rewards of volunteering are not being adequately communicated to the public. If they were, a lot more people would offer their services.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In addition, many volunteering roles </span><a href="https://www.miragenews.com/get-behind-frontline-to-help-our-emergency-services/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">do not require people to be on the front lines</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> at all. There are a large number of </span><a href="https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2019/11/Get-Behind-the-Frontline-to-help-our-emergency-services-.aspx"><span style="font-weight: 400;">opportunities</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to support fire prevention, response and recovery well beyond the fires themselves.</span></p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212420915300388"><span style="font-weight: 400;">We also know</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that everyday people are deeply motivated to help others in the face of disaster. Indeed, NSW RFS and QFES are likely to see an upswing in people inquiring about volunteering in the aftermath of the current fires.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, there is one important thing to note: the best time to approach emergency services about volunteering is before an event, rather than during one.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If we are fighting bushfires into the next decade with the same or declining numbers of volunteers, using the same approaches we use today, then clearly the job will be much harder and the demands on volunteers will become more extreme.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The key variable that will make the most difference for volunteers is the willingness and commitment of emergency services, governments, society and volunteers themselves to embrace change to current practices.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This includes a greater investment in risk reduction, new operational approaches and involving volunteers more in organisational decision making. Emergency services providers should also be working more closely with community organisations to better understand and target the particular needs of different communities.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Whatever choices we make, we cannot leave it to our front line volunteers to bear an increasing burden of fighting the bushfires of the future.</span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Written by Blythe McLennan. Republished with permission of </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/as-bushfires-intensify-we-need-to-acknowledge-the-strain-on-our-volunteers-127517"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Conversation.</span></a></em></p>