Length of service award program
Encyclopedia
Length of Service Award Programs (LOSAPS) are pension
-like programs increasingly used across the United States to assist communities in recruiting, retaining and rewarding volunteer firefighter
s and EMS
personnel. With 86% of all fire departments being volunteer fire department
s, communities are increasingly seeking tools to assist them in boosting the ranks of volunteers.
The Losap is a simple tool that can be implemented cost-effectively and with minimal taxpayer expense. Conversely, if enrollment numbers drop low enough, many municipalities can be forced to convert to paid departments potentially costing states and counties millions in extra spending. Enrollment in volunteer fire departments has dipped 10% in each of the past two decades, making LOSAPS and other recruitment
tools extremely important to the communities that count on the nations more than 30,000 fire departments.
Pension
In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
-like programs increasingly used across the United States to assist communities in recruiting, retaining and rewarding volunteer firefighter
Firefighter
Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...
s and EMS
Emergency medical services
Emergency medical services are a type of emergency service dedicated to providing out-of-hospital acute medical care and/or transport to definitive care, to patients with illnesses and injuries which the patient, or the medical practitioner, believes constitutes a medical emergency...
personnel. With 86% of all fire departments being volunteer fire department
Fire department
A fire department or fire brigade is a public or private organization that provides fire protection for a certain jurisdiction, which typically is a municipality, county, or fire protection district...
s, communities are increasingly seeking tools to assist them in boosting the ranks of volunteers.
The Losap is a simple tool that can be implemented cost-effectively and with minimal taxpayer expense. Conversely, if enrollment numbers drop low enough, many municipalities can be forced to convert to paid departments potentially costing states and counties millions in extra spending. Enrollment in volunteer fire departments has dipped 10% in each of the past two decades, making LOSAPS and other recruitment
Recruitment
Recruitment refers to the process of attracting, screening, and selecting qualified people for a job. For some components of the recruitment process, mid- and large-size organizations often retain professional recruiters or outsource some of the process to recruitment agencies.The recruitment...
tools extremely important to the communities that count on the nations more than 30,000 fire departments.