“Don’t burden volunteers with writing rosters”

They are there quickly to put out fires, transport ambulances and provide first aid, or search for missing hikers in the mountains. Without the tens of thousands of volunteers in Upper Austria, the rescue and security organizations would not be there when they are needed.

Last year, those responsible for the association worked together with the OÖN to develop the volunteer manifesto to promote volunteer work and improve conditions.

Today the Volunteer Council is meeting in Linz. At the top of the agenda is the call for one “structural support”to be funded by the state. The organizations want to hire more full-time workers who create a more attractive environment for volunteers, as Red Cross President Walter Aichinger, the chairman of the Volunteer Council, has already argued in the OÖN. Colleagues from the fire brigade, Samaritan association and mountain rescue team agree.

“We want to raise awareness that volunteering is not self-generating”, says Christian Wagner, State Secretary of the Samaritan Association in Upper Austria. You should volunteer “not also burdening them with administrative agendas, such as writing rosters and managing members”. In larger companies there is a human resources department for this “this also needs to be strengthened in our areas”, says Wagner. It is not yet possible to quantify how high this structural support should be.

youth work support

“In order to find young people, we fully rely on youth work”, says Markus Voglhuber from the Upper Austrian Fire Brigade Association. But times have changed, working with children and young people has become more complex. “More professionalism and full-time employment are needed in youth work today”, says Voglhuber. Therefore, more professionals are needed to support the volunteers in this area.

Christoph Preimesberger, head of the Upper Austrian mountain rescue service, sees it similarly. The number of organizational tasks, from operational documentation to finances, is not decreasing. “On the contrary.” About 50 percent of the tasks of a local manager consist of administrative agendas.

“Professionals can do a lot of the work for us here”says Preimesberger, the mountain rescue team hired a 35-hour work force “but that will not be enough in the future”. For example, it is a great effort to have the emergency paramedic training of mountain rescuers certified every year, says the head of the mountain rescue service.