Q: Our volunteer fire brigade is suffering from burnout.
We have had more than our usual share of fires these past few months and the guys are tired. We’ve recruited everyone who is available, but the workload continues.
I am not sure what I can do to make things better for everyone.
A: I suspect that you are right. You and your fire department are most likely dealing with occupational burnout.
But let’s be clear about something from the start. Occupational burnout is not necessarily only related to the amount of work you do. It is not just that you have had too many calls of late that is discouraging the guys on your crew.
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It is more likely related to the stress that has gone with each call. You can have fires one after another with no psychological repercussions on your fire crew but when one person dies at home from a fire, occupational burnout goes through the roof.
Your most likely option for reducing the stress, and for therefore reducing your levels of occupational burnout, is for you to make more of an effort to have the men in your crew get together to support each other.
Just after they have changed into their civilian clothes, and before they leave the firehall to go home, you might encourage them to sit down with that ever-percolating pot of coffee and have some time together. Wouldn’t it be great if they were able to talk with one another about some of those scary moments they shared at the scene? Wouldn’t it be even greater if one guy said to another, “thank you for being there for me?”
The more that all of you can share a few positive thoughts with each other and the more that you can be there for each other, the more likely it is that you will circumvent burnout.
Each one of those people on your fire crew has his or her own talents. Your job is two-fold.
You need firstly to make sure that you understand what strengths you can on your crew.
The second part is to capitalize on those strengths. The mechanical whiz can work on the truck, the computer genius can upgrade your call-out system and those guys who read a lot might join you when you are off to one of your workshops. And don’t forget that guy who is forever talking, the one who is without a loss for words, He definitely needs to go to the annual meeting of the municipality with you when you are asking for more money for your firehall.
We beat occupational burnout by reducing the stress of whatever it is that is challenging us. And in turn we reduce the stress both by caring for each other and by getting a chance to fulfill our individual talents.
You may not get rid of the burnout tomorrow, or as quickly as you would like, but if you listen to each other and support each other it will happen and when it does you can call off your search for new recruits. Your guys will be just fine.
Jacklin Andrews is a family counsellor from Saskatchewan. Contact: jandrews@producer.com.
