Madison Fire Department looks to diversify workforce with new program

MADISON, Wis. (WMDX) – The Madison Fire Department is looking to diversify their team with a new Development Internship Program. The program aims to cultivate up-and-coming talent from communities historically underrepresented in the public safety workforce. 

Two candidates will receive full-time paid internships that will last two years, where they will learn the operation and administrative aspects of the Madison Fire Department, all while earning an associates degree from Madison College. Once completed, successful interns will be qualified for placement on the Firefighter/EMT hiring eligibility list for the Madison Fire Department. 

The program is being developed in partnership with the BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, and the Firefighters Local 311. They will begin accepting applications for the program Wednesday, March 13, and the program is expected to begin this June. 

This project is funded by the Wisconsin Partnership Program at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Project collaborators include Dr. Michael Spigner, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, who serves as the program’s academic partner, and FireFighters Local 311. 

The primary goal of the program is to diversify the city’s public safety workforce. The Madison Fire Department says that more diverse medical teams give more accurate diagnoses, identify critical illness more effectively, have higher patient satisfaction scores, have improved partnership and communication with patients, and observe greater patient adherence to treatment regimens. 

The Madison Fire Department also says that they hope the program will improve recruitment efforts of historically underrepresented groups in the Fire and EMS professions. The program is intended to promote economic stability for its participants while opening the door to higher education. By providing a livable wage throughout the two-year program, participants are able to be better protected from the financial stressors that commonly limit a person’s capacity to advance toward degree completion. Most importantly, they say the program will help address systemic disparities in the public safety workforce.