The Business of Rescue: Building a Profitable and Effective Framework

We live in a world that’s rapidly changing. What may look like chaos is actually the precursor to incredible opportunities—a time for individuals and businesses to flourish. Those who step into leadership roles, forge new paths, and reimagine how systems operate will be seen as heroes.

For the emergency services sector, particularly fire service and search and rescue, the challenge is clear:

How can we adopt proven business principles to deliver better outcomes with efficiency, clarity, and purpose?

The answer lies in understanding that rescue is a business. While it may not fit neatly into traditional corporate models, every rescue mission involves customers, systems, overhead, and measurable outcomes. It’s time to shift our perspective and build frameworks that combine purpose with sustainable operations.

Defining the Business of Rescue

At its core:

• Rescue means to save, free, or deliver.
• Rigging means to set up, prepare, and support.

Our role is to set up and support systems that save lives. That sounds heroic because it is. However, heroism without a clear plan can lead to wasted resources, inefficiency, and missed opportunities.

The biggest challenge facing rescue organizations today? Capacity.

• Is it a matter of insufficient personnel?
• Or is it about not having the right training and tools?

To understand this, let’s explore capacity as production—the ability to produce outcomes with precision, safety, and value.

The 6 Constructs of a Business Model for Rescue

Adopting business principles doesn’t diminish the mission—it strengthens it. By using these 6 constructs, emergency services can clarify their operations, improve efficiency, and deliver better results:

1. Leadership
   • The role of leadership is to provide a clear mission statement and a plan to execute it.
   • Leaders must unify their teams around a shared vision while prioritizing measurable goals.
2. Marketing
   • Clarify the message to your “customers”—residents, taxpayers, and agencies.
   • A clear message ensures people understand what you do and why it matters.
3. Sales
   • This isn’t about selling—it’s about making your customer the hero of the story.
   • Engage stakeholders by showing how your services directly impact their safety and security.
4. Products
   • Rescue services are your “products”: fire suppression, patient transport, technical rescue, hazardous materials, and EMS.
   • Optimize these services to ensure they deliver maximum value, savings, or resource reallocation.
5. Overhead and Operations
   • Streamline systems and processes to ensure productivity without bloat.
   • Labor is your biggest expense—efficiency here is key.
6. Cash Flow
   • Track how resources are spent and ensure they are allocated to high-value priorities.
   • Diversify funding streams and monitor the balance between investment in equipment, training, and personnel.

Why Business Models Matter in Rescue

Emergency services differ from small businesses in significant ways—there’s no “profit” in the traditional sense. However, there’s still a return on investment:

• Lives saved.
• Resources optimized.
• Risk mitigated.

The fire service, for example, often operates on rank and experience, not economic objectives. Overhead costs, driven by stringent safety standards, are also higher. But by incorporating business principles—like streamlined operations, targeted training, and modular systems—emergency services can achieve the same goals as private enterprises: better outcomes with fewer resources.

Building Capacity: Balancing Equipment, Knowledge, and Training

Capacity is all about production—what can you produce with the resources you have?

To maximize capacity:

1. Audit Your Equipment:
   • What gear do you have, and are you using it effectively?
   • Set aside tools that add no value.
2. Invest in Knowledge:
   • Does your team have hands-on, measurable expertise with the tools they use?
   • Focus on building a knowledge base that translates directly to better outcomes.
3. Prioritize Training:
   • Design modular systems that allow teams to train efficiently without sacrificing quality.
   • Ensure academic and practical training align with clear, measurable objectives.

The Pareto Principle: Focus on the 20%

The Pareto Principle states that 20% of your efforts produce 80% of your results. In rescue and rigging, this means:

• Double down on the tools, training, and processes that drive the most significant impact.
• Eliminate distractions and focus on what matters most.

Applying the 5/25 Strategy

To identify and prioritize the most critical tasks, use the 5/25 strategy:

1. List 25 tasks, goals, or challenges your team faces.
2. Rank them in order of importance.
3. Focus on the Top 5. Avoid the remaining 20 until the first 5 are complete.

This strategy ensures your resources remain laser-focused on the actions that produce real results.

Final Thoughts: A New Era of Rescue

We’re entering an era where emergency services will be held to higher standards—operationally, financially, and transparently. Whether you’re:

• Building a rescue-focused business,
• Implementing systems within your agency, or
• Organizing operations for better efficiency,

the principles of business—leadership, systems, and measured outcomes—will drive success.

Remember: Everything, even a mechanical advantage system, runs on a profit and loss framework. It’s about maximizing capacity, minimizing waste, and delivering the best possible outcomes.

The question is: Are you ready to embrace this change and lead the way?

Stay tuned! We’re building a new course syllabus designed to help business-minded leaders in emergency services navigate this transformation. I’ll share more details soon.

Peace on your days,
Lance

Explore More at Rigging Lab Academy:

• Building Efficient Rescue Systems
• Training Strategies for Emergency Services
• Optimizing Resources in Technical Rescue

Peace on your Days

Lance