BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (WAND) - First responder agencies often struggle to find and keep talented workers. But one Central Illinois city is hoping to buck the trend by overhauling its shift structure, giving its firefighters significantly more time off with their families.
"If people don't want to do this profession and it's not enticing, then what's going to happen when you call 911 and no one shows up?" Eric Hall, President of Local 49, asked.
WAND News met Hall at Bloomington Fire Department's Station One. It's the busiest firehouse in the city, but overall, the city has seen a 30% increase in calls for service over the past five years.
"We were running about 8,000 calls a year. Now we're running over 14,000 calls," Hall explained.
Hall has been a Bloomington Firefighter for 14 years and now serves as the local union president. He said the increase in call volume can take a toll.
"Like firefighters do, we step up to it. So we're trying to, unfortunately, even with firefighters, what we do is we will push ourselves until we drop. And we don't necessarily take care of ourselves," Hall said.
He said most of his fellow firefighters crash after a 24-hour shift of running calls. But many, like him, jump right into dad mode.
"That's all for my children. That's all they've known. They've grown up. Dad goes to work every third day," Hall told WAND News.
But starting in January, his job will look a little different as the Bloomington Fire Department shifts from 24 hours on, 48 hours off to 24 hours on, 72 hours off.
"We never really get out of that fight or flight mentality, because then that second day, it's I'm getting ready to go back to work. So now I have, where I'm going to actually wake up at home two days without having to come in to work," Hall said.
Firefighters will still work about 46 hours per week. But leadership hopes the increased time off will lead to healthier firefighters.
"When we start looking at the research behind shift work and especially the demands of the profession of firefighting, and we're seeing a lot more instances of cardiovascular disease, stress-related disorders and just the impacts of sleep disruption, and lack of work-life balance," Bloomington Fire Chief Cory Matheny told WAND News.
Matheny and city leaders were initially skeptical of the new schedule.
"Quite frankly, we were like, there's no way we can make that work," Matheny explained.
But after some tweaking with the schedule and staff, they realized it would work and even improve operations.
"It should have the corresponding effect of reducing the impact of going on the stressful calls that the repetitive motion injuries and really see a reduction in work injuries, sick leave and things like that," Matheny said.
It's also expected to drastically reduce the department's overtime budget.
"No one ever really talks about the day that you call and no one shows up. You can only push people. So far. There's a lot of departments are being forced to work 48, 24 hours because they don't have the manpower," Hall said.
The improved work-life balance is expected to be a major recruiting tool for the city.
"I think we're starting the trend, and you can either be in front of the curve or playing catch-up with it. We're committed to continuous improvement and just kind of being a destination where people want to come and spend some time with us," Matheny said.
Bloomington Firefighters are not required to live within city limits. This means the department can recruit from nearby cities, since employees would only need to commute two or three times a week.
Charleston's firefighter union recently approved a similar model and will be changing the shift schedule in 2026.
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