The Virginia Office of EMS, Virginia Association of Volunteer Rescue Squads (VAVRS), and the Western Virginia EMS Council in Roanoke teamed together to contract with Renaissance Resources, a Richmond based business-consulting firm, to develop strategies and identify solutions to enhance the retention of volunteer and career EMS personnel. Four tools or workbooks will be developed based on research compiled from focus groups of selected types of agencies. Check back as the guides are completed.
- EMS Workforce Retention Research
This extensive research presents the framework for the creation of the four workbooks and EMS agency market segments. Localities and EMS agencies will find the results and findings helpful in recognizing local and statewide EMS workforce trends. - Keeping The Best! How To Use EMS Retention Principles
The first in a series of four the Retention tool kit, is a hands-on workbook to help EMS leaders understand and use basic retention principles in day-to-day EMS agency operations. The workbook begins with a Retention Program self assessment. By taking the assessment, the EMS leader highlights the strengths and weaknesses of his current retention program. The leader learns to maintain and leverage the strengths of the EMS agency program and work on the important weaknesses. - Keeping The Best! A Survival Guide to EMS Retention Problems
The second publication in the Keeping the Best! line-up. This 32-page guidebook will help leaders identify and solve specific retention problems. Thirteen specific retention problems are identified with suggested solutions. While the survival guide was originally designed for EMS agencies in cities or counties with little or no population growth and with little or no turnover in EMS personnel, this is a great tool for any EMS agency. - Keeping the Best! Maximizing Your Retention Efforts
Designed for larger volunteer agencies that have mastered the basics, but want to maximize their retention efforts. Please note that EMS leaders from any size volunteer or career agency will find this workbook helpful. It guides EMS leaders through issues driven by growth and change such as the integration of career personnel. Maximizing Your Retention Efforts also reviews the importance of the recruiting process and reintroduces the reader to the key retention principles mentioned in the first workbook. - Keeping The Best! How To Retain ALS Providers: Workforce Utilization Strategies & Applying EMS Retention Principles
The fourth and final workbook in the EMS Workforce Retention Tool kit is designed for the EMS Manager who wants to strengthen their ALS workforce. “How To Retain ALS Providers” challenges the EMS agency leadership to define the current ALS workforce, define the desired future ALS workforce and examine strategies to fill the gap between the current and desired ALS workforce. Managers are also encouraged to monitor the results and re-evaluate their work at regular intervals. Managers will use a series of spreadsheets to capture quantitative and data and apply the four basic retention principles to ALS Workforce issues. - How to Retain ALS Provider Worksheets (Appendices A-L)
Instead of trying to write all your data into the workbook, download the worksheets and templates. Most are in Excel spreadsheets and feature encoded formulas to help you process your data.