Meade County firefighters are responding to the first responder gender gap with a non-profit called “She Responds.” Studies show women make up more than half of the nation’s workforce. Only a fraction are firefighters, police officers, and emergency personnel.
Some areas in Kentucky have limited resources and rely solely on volunteers. When four female firefighters in Meade County became first responders, they quickly realized the lack of women in the industry.
“There wasn’t a female presence at all,” Firefighter Rae Hoskins explained. “There weren’t female first responders or women on the auxiliary board of directors.”
Research conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2020 found women made up almost 5% of the nation’s firefighter workforce. Hoskins and others believe a way to move those numbers is through their non-profit She Responds.