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Hello Chief / Admin / Firefighter

How prepared is your volunteer fire department for some of the administrative and organizational challenges of 2026 and beyond?

NOTE: You can use this anonymously, but also know that nothing will be published about your VFD.

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Are you NERIS migrated?👇

After 50 years, NERIS (National Emergency Response Information System) has replaced NFIRS? NFIRS closes at the end of this month.

We've registered with NERIS.

We are evaluating Fire RMS solutions.

We have not looked at NERIS yet.

We are live on NERIS.

We are migrating to NERIS.

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Do you have an admin or is Chief pushing paper?👇

Fire departments where Chief is pushing paper may be missing out on time Chief could be spending mentoring, and strengthening department mission readiness.

No Administrator

We are actively recruiting an Admin

We have an Admin who rocks!

We are figuring out how to recruit one

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Have you completed your NFIRS to date, and for past years?👇

NERIS will NOT accept 2022, 2023, 2024 incidents, and grant applications often demand three years of reporting history. USFA has accepted that 2025 is a migration year, but you only have this month to file any NFIRS you wish to file.

We are actively entering 2025 NFIRS

We are up to date on NFIRS for all years!

We are figuring out how to do this

We don't file NFIRS

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What are you doing to track you ISO needs?

Boxes and Binders of Paperwork.

(Volunteer or Career) Fire Department Fire RMS

We don't track Training, Apparatus & Equipment checks.

Spreadsheets and Documents (Digitally)

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Have you planned your firefighter recruitment for 2026? 👇

Recruitment is getting harder in today's world, what are you doing to grow your ranks?

We haven't found time to focus on recruitment

We run serious recruitment campaigns

We actively ask our community for recruits

We mostly recruit through word of mouth

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Are your firefighter retention programs set for 2026? 👇

Recruitment is great, but retention is as critical. Retention starts with good leadership and training programs, but it is so much more.

We make time, semi-regularly, to work on retention for the whole team

We haven't found time to focus on retention

We design serious retention efforts into our department for all our membership

We work with each firefighter as needed

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What are you doing for continuity? 👇

Operational continuity is critical to volunteer fire departments, especially as firefighters age. Do you have your next generation of officers? Are you mentoring them to grow?

We've not found time for continuity planning

We have programs were junior officers shadow senior officer, with continuity in mind

We train active firefighters in officer duties, and replace officer positions as needed

We work with firefighters on an individual basis

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What are your plans for Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) in 2026? How will you up your training 👇

Organizing training is one of the hardest jobs for volunteer fire departments, and it takes commitment to keep it fresh & improving.

We schedule regular training, do AARs, and offer extras like burn houses & auto extrication classes

We schedule regular training, and do AARs after challenging calls

We schedule regular trainings

We schedule training well in advance, publish the schedule, mandate attendance on burn houses, do AARs, promote extra curricular training, and engage the firefighters in the plan

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What are you doing for member/firefighter communications, when NOT on calls? 👇

In today's volunteer fire department firefighter / membership communications is critical to engagement & cohesion.

We (group) text message each other, when needed

We don't have a department communications solution

We provide & manage a team communications platform (Group Me, Slack, etc.) where any member can freely communicate.

Officers manage a group email list or group text, sharing department information & updates

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How do you protect your firefighters during / after a (structure) fire? 👇

Today's structure fires / fires involve ever increasing synthetics, and produce significant carcinogens that are hazardous to firefighter health. Firefighters must be protected both during and after the fire.

We educate our firefighters on the risks, and gross decon on scene, but don't mandate any further actions

We educate, gross decon, keep clean cabs, provide wipes & decon kits & bag PPE on scene

We educate our firefighters, gross decon and bag dirty PPE on scene

We educate our firefighters, gross decon, provide wipes, and bag PPE on scene

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WANT IDEAS? If you'd like helpful resources tailored to your answers, please let us know where to send them.

Responserack can help you get your volunteer fire department more prepared for 2026. Let us help you with ideas to make progress for your VFD for 2026.

First Name

Last Name

Fire Department

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'Oops! something went wrong.',

Thank you for reviewing some of your department readiness for 2026.

Your fire department's readiness is at:

Result: ___ out of 50.

( Don't overthink the number too much, this is just a simple quiz to stimulate some 2026 thinking. :-) )

Contact [email protected] if you'd like helpful resources from Responserack on how to make progress with any of this.

Remember: Volunteer Fire is a team activity, best done together ... so engage your firefighters, your fire family, and your community to build for your 2026.

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