Volunteer firefighters and emergency service personnel put their lives on the line every day in their mission to serve and protect families, neighbors and country.
It’s their passion and selflessness that inspired VFIS founder, Arthur J. Glatfelter, to create the first-ever specialized coverage for volunteer firefighters fifty years ago. Today, VFIS continues to see it as its purpose to provide meaningful benefits and protections to the nation’s first responders.
Serving Fire Departments
As the technology, services and landscape of the fire service and EMS organizations have evolved – so has VFIS
“Art wanted to make a difference and serve people in every way he could. Not just by selling them a policy, but by making sure that he understood their motivations, their aspirations, their needs—and then, he saw it as his responsibility to help them achieve those things by managing the risks that they were going to be taking along the way.” -Tony Campisi, President and CEO of Glatfelter Insurance Group.
First known as Volunteer Firemen’s Insurance Services, VFIS has grown to become America’s insurance provider for emergency organizations serving fire departments, ambulance centers, rescue squads, 911 centers and more. As the technology, services and landscape of the fire service and EMS organizations have evolved – so has VFIS.
Fire And Emergency Medical Services
“When we first started, we were effectively the only program designed specifically for volunteer fire departments. As fire departments around the country expanded their roles, we became the main [resource] for all emergency services. Everything that encompassed fire and emergency medical services, we were able to handle. From a formation perspective, we were the first to develop products that nobody else offered.” - Mark Schmidt, retired Chief Underwriting Officer for Glatfelter Programs and President of Insurance Company Operations.
VFIS continues to stand apart from other insurance providers because it truly understands the needs of its clients
VFIS continues to stand apart from other insurance providers because it truly understands the needs of its clients as it serves alongside them and advocate for their best interests every day. VFIS is currently staffed with many active and past first responders who have a combined 760+ years of emergency service experience and associates who serve in organizations that support first responders including the National Fallen Firefighters Association and the National EMS Management Association.
Life-Saving Educational Opportunities
This experience has allowed VFIS to become a trusted resource for firefighters and EMTs and to provide potentially life-saving educational opportunities including in-person training sessions, a wide-variety of online courses and printable checklists and guides for operations.
This year, VFIS will be taking a look back on the past 50 years, planning for the next half-century and most importantly – celebrating the heroes who have truly made the past 50 years meaningful. VFIS is proud to be a part of the fire and EMS community and will continue to do everything it can to support those who serve the nation.