Batesville, Indiana - November 2003
Batesville, Indiana was established in 1854 as a railroad service town. Originally settled by immigrants from Northern Germany, Batesville has a strategic central location between Indianapolis and Cincinnati in Ripley county in southeast Indiana.

John A. Hillenbrand, the son of a German immigrant woodworker, founded the community's largest employer, Hillenbrand Industries in the late 1800's. Hillenbrand has three divisions: the Batesville Casket Company (world's leading manufacturer), Hill-Rom (world's leading manufacturer of hospital beds and patient care systems), and Forethought Financial Services, a provider of insurance and trust products designed to fund prearranged funerals. Fire Chief Todd Schutte jokes that Batesville gets its business "coming and going".

Managing a Volunteer Fire Department
Chief Schutte manages the volunteer fire department in Batesville. His 40 personnel consist of fire fighters and EMS providers. Getting volunteers has been a challenge. Most come through word of mouth and presentations given by the department at local clubs once or twice per month. His current staff of volunteers have been serving the city for anywhere from 5 to 40 years.

One of the biggest challenges with a volunteer department is getting his people trained. "Today's world is so fast moving, we are trying to grab just a little of that time to commit to training", says the chief.

Department is Committed to its Volunteers
To attract and retain their volunteers, the department supplies and pays for all equipment and training. The volunteers also receive an hourly wage when on runs and when attending meetings or training.

Of the approximately 28 trained fire fighters, the department averages 16-18 fire fighters on each fire rescue run. The EMS personnel are broken down into three squads that serve one week on and two weeks off.

Health and Fitness is Chief's Biggest Goal
The health and fitness of Chief Schutte's personnel has received very high importance. In his 3rd year of office, he has established a thorough application process, and an agility test that all applicants must pass before they are hired.

The chief also instituted annual physical examinations this year. "These examinations not only comply with NFPA 1582, but are important just for the fact that heart attacks continue to be the leading cause of duty deaths in the fire service", states the chief. "I don't want our department to end up becoming a statistic."

Volunteers are Committed to Health and Fitness Program
After some initial resistance and skepticism, the volunteers have grown to appreciate the physical examinations. The results they received on their physical health, blood work, and health risks, was found to be very helpful. "Many of them found that they weren't in as good of health as they thought they were and want to do more to improve themselves" states Chief Schutte. The program ultimately can have a positive impact on the entire family. The chief found that many spouses were happy knowing their significant others were being taken care of.

Advice to Other Volunteer and Paid Departments
"I would surely urge all departments to provide a {medical evaluation} program. It gives the department heads a little peace of mind knowing that their personnel are in good health," says the chief.

Click here for the Batesville Volunteer Fire Department newsletter article.

For more information on Batesville, Indiana, visit online by clicking here.

© 2006 Public Safety Medical Services