The NVFC is pleased to offer this monthly email to our state associations and other stakeholders to help you more effectively and easily communicate national fire and emergency service messages to your members. Here are resources and tools for December 2018.

New Animated Videos: The NVFC has released two new animated videos as part of our Serve Strong health and safety campaign. A video on leadership reminds fire service leaders to be available and promote open communication in their departments (access on YouTube or Vimeo). A video on teamwork promotes working together to prevent injuries (access on YouTube or Vimeo). Suggested social media posts about each video are attached.

First Responder Incentive Program: FCA is offering exclusive incentives for firefighters and emergency responders on eligible vehicles. FCA products include Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram. A clickable flyer and suggested social media posts and image are attached to help you communicate this promotion to your audience.

Fire/EMS Helpline: The holiday season can be especially stressful or difficult for volunteer responders. This is a good time to remind people of the help available through the Fire/EMS Helpline. Suggested social media posts are attached. Also attached is an article on managing stress from the NVFC’s Helpletter publication.

Recruitment Messages: If you are looking for fire service recruitment messages to distribute through your organization’s Facebook or Twitter accounts, you can find content to share from the Make Me A Firefighter social media pages. Follow the campaign on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MakeMeAFirefighter/ and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/findthefighter, and feel free to share any content from these pages.

Volunteer Retention: Many departments today struggle to retain enough volunteers to respond, while many volunteer firefighters and EMS providers struggle to find enough time to meet all of their obligations. In a recent article from the NVFC Dispatch, Tiger Schmittendorf looks at how departments can more effectively address these issues so that everybody wins. The article is attached, or link to it on the NVFC web site here: https://www.nvfc.org/a-new-pyramid-scheme-for-your-volunteer-department/

Holiday Giving: December is a time many people give, whether presents to their loved ones, donations to their favorite charities, or even gifts to themselves. There are many ways that these gifts can help support the NVFC. Attached are some suggested social media posts that promote gift of membership, AmazonSmile, and direct donations.
If you have any questions or need additional information, please let me know.

Sincerely,
Kimberly Quiros,
Chief of Communications
kimberly@nvfc.org

Download individual resources:
Article – Getting a Handle on Stress – .docx format
Article – A New Pyramid Scheme for Your Volunteer Department – .docx format
Social Media Posts for December 2018 – .docx format
Flyer for FCA First Responder Incentive Program – .pdf format
Image – Ram image for FCA posts – .png format