Good post. The points made ring true with my SAR experience. There are times when you should, indeed must, augment the local FD and PD with trained, responsible, and capable civilian volunteers. This ideally can benefit everyone, especially the victims (as well as the volunteers) and provide competent life saving services at a very reasonable cost (usually none).

The training and skill set of volunteers can be variable, but in many organizations, members will be extremely proficient in their specialties, and a well organized group will effectively deploy their members in an effective manner.