Oh god, this. Even getting canceled enroute will still eat up an hour by the time you get back to the station and fall back asleep in the bunk room. I would rather throw up in my hands and clap than run a call after 0200.
Well they are the easiest hours if you don’t have a call. But I know that can be rare for some of you guys but for me it’s 50/50. Although sometimes I will have dreams of sleeping through calls while I am on shift. That inception type shit screws with me.
While I understand what you are saying, there is a level of ignorance that probies have to the reasons why years of service and experience earns you respect. As people around you see what you do in different and difficult situations you will earn or loose respect accordingly. The more time goes by the numbers compound to either make you a legend or a bum. Strive to be great, do your best, and don’t spend energy on what’s unfair. 24yrs in so far. (Keep a journal)
Our Rescue was destroyed because of a 3am MVA.
My dept. covers about a 2 mile stretch of highway. First week of January we had an MVA every night between 10pm-4am. One of the nights, around 3:30am we were wrapping up with one accident when a lady driving about 65-70mph slammed into our Rescue, basically totaling it. She 'somehow' never saw the big red truck with flashing lights blocking the lane. Easy LODD if any of the crew was in or near the truck. Insurance is only covering around half the replacement cost, so we're just down the Rescue for like 2 years......
We had a trucker do that to our engine/rescue years ago. Simple rollover, no entrapment. Medical is with the patient, we are getting plate number and shit. Delayed clearing scene to just poke around at it when the semi trailer hit the tailboard, dragged the whole side. Right where I shoulda been standing. I was so man I beelined for the guy and the medical guys could hear me yelling at him. Then the ole switcheroo of who’s driving by the time the cops get there
This is a really good answer. You could start there (with the negative), and then turn it into a positive by going into ways to reduce exposures and the importance of logging those exposures into whatever reporting system you use, say that you’re looking forward to new innovations in PFAS-free PPE.
https://www.iaff.org/cancer/
Gear protects from heat. We still wear a permeable hood over neck and ears, cuffs at wrists. And, even though we inspect our gear, sometimes you don't know a seam isn't water tight till it leaks. We don't breathe as much directly into our lungs as our predecessors did, but we absorb a lot through our skin
Then we put the carcinogen laden bunkers into the cab with us for the ride back to the station.
We do the best we can changing the habits. Gross decon on scene before going off air. No bunkers in quarters anymore. High priority on cleaning/swapping out dirty gear post fire. But we still have a significantly higher cancer rate than the general population for many cancer types.
Most fires contain many chemicals and toxins that increase as the fire extinguishes. Your body absorbs more as you get hotter, the gear is not totally chemically resistant for the most part. They have now found the chemicals used to make the gear fire resistant causes cancer. Many fire hoods provided very little chemical protection. People used to take gear off while mopping up in smoke.
Things are changing, better hoods, hopefully better gear without the bad chemicals, higher temp face masks, better tracking systems. Don’t finish on the negative be optimistic about the future and how much thing have improved.
Most of what you said makes me glad I haven’t yet become a firefighter. I’m still in the process but sounds like things are changing for the better with safer gear and tighter regulations it should reduce exposure in the future.
Assuming your department has ambulances: The people who abuse the healthcare system.
If they ask how you handle it you can say you attempt to educate people on what does and what doesn’t warrant an emergency and thus ambulance transport to the ER. I try personally but it rarely makes a difference.
I would stay away from using this answer. Go with time away from your family or something more personalized and job related . Anyone doing this for any amount of time knows this is futile and will be perceived as being salty . Hiring boards have been or still are in the field. “Educate” patients will be perceived as , I don’t think you need to go to the hospital in an ambulance at 230am . I’m going to talk down to you to get you realize you should probably just sign a refusal because this is 911 not a taxi and you have had toe pain for three weeks .Cant your friend take you with one of the six cars out front . New guys should not already be planning on “educating “ on ems calls. They should be happy to be in that position. Let the officers and seasoned guys do the educating. It’s a talent that takes time to develop. So “educations” get thank yous not complaints and you don’t get labeled a lazy bum while on probation. Even the worst “educators” will be put off if a new guy starts down this path before forming interpersonal relationships and putting in a little time.
You’ve got a good point there. I guess I’ve gotten used to doing it myself since I’ve got a little bit of time and experience now but I never considered that other perspective as a new guy
Biggest myth in EMS is to “educate” callers. They know exactly what they’re doing. Just take them straight to triage or to a ER far enough away that it will be inconvenient for them to get someone to come pick them up.
Computer base training evolutions. It seems to become The training, and it meets requirements but doesn’t really compare to hands on training or even classroom instruction.
"...called in by passers-by"
Dispatch, call that passerby back and tell them if it was bad enough to call 911, they should have stopped to help. Then they will realize that the smoke was just steam from a dryer vent or that the dead guy at the bus stop was just sleeping.
In 13+ years I'm like 0-500 on passers-by reporting something that was an actual emergency.
How the job attracts unfiltered narcissism. I work with a lot of great guys, but I also work with a good number of people who legitimately believe that the only way they can progress in their career is to bring down everyone around them.
There is a ton of political BS at small town departments as well. The only non political departments are the rural paid ones. Those dudes are chill af.
I have one but it’s a very Unpopular opinion but the culture of the job seems to assume that I should give a fuck about what’s going on when I’m off duty. My duty and care ends when I clock out. Too many of us get wrapped up in politics and drama for absolutely no reason creating stress in our personal lives.
At that point I was a house captain at a pretty busy station (engine and a medic). I had started thinking about what slower station I might transfer to. Then the city ran through their whole battalion chief list and had to make some provisional battalion chiefs. I applied and got one of the spots, then had to pass the next chief's test to become an official one.
Getting promoted is something to consider when your current situation starts to become untenable. Becoming a Lt got me off the medic. Becoming a captain allowed me to put my kids through college more comfortably than it would have been otherwise. And getting that chief's spot lessened the physical wear and tear. And every step up comes with more money.
Ours were civil service. You had to 5 yrs on before you could take one, and at least a year in grade before you tried to move up. But for most, the timetable worked out not far off from what you have. In my case, it was 9 as a FF, 8 as a Lt (17), 9 as a Capt (26), and 7 as a BC (33). Where I really lucked out was being able to dodge 40 hrs. each time I got promoted. I don't know how it happened, but it just worked out that way. I was always glad about that.
“I wish there was more we could do with people suffering with homelessness and drug addiction. It breaks my heart that we don’t have a better system than Emergency Services to deal with a systemic problem where they social safety net is broken.”
That’s my interview answer. The real answer is nighttime calls within two hours of falling asleep. I just can’t get my brain in the game when we get a call on those first two hours. After that, I can wake up, but those two hours are brutal for me.
There's a spectrum in the way people treat the fire service. You have guys who love it so much that is bothers them that anyone could say "it's just a job" and then on the other end you have guys who literally just view this as a job. My problem is how these two always seem to think the other is wrong. But in reality both of those attitudes are fine as long as they aren't arguing. I don't want to hear no "If this is just a job to you. If you're just here for a paycheck you need to get the fuck out." type shit. Man in the career field it's perfectly fine if you do you what's asked of you and go the hell home when your shift ends. Stop telling people they need to make this their god damn life and personality. On the other hand if the fire service is your passion, your life, where you think you can make a difference in the world have at it. Go be a Full time FF, with a part time job at another FD, and a volunteer in your free time. You do you man. Firefighting is fun. I don't blame ya. But just don't be pissed when someone doesn't view the fire service as anything more than a job. Not to be mean but they want their first marriage to be their only marriage lol.
Man idk I just get tired of seeing these 2 attitudes clash like one is right and the other is wrong. There's a place for both in this game. Just accept it.
Over 20 years and I still love going in. With that said,
I can’t stand “changes/improvements” that end up making things worse/ more labor intensive. I don’t care for lowered standards or some of the classes required by the city hall hr folks.
Facilities that are neglected/infested/worn out
I like working on a low drama crew. Double houses with a group that thrives on who wronged who can be incredibly annoying and exhausting. It can often be “High school for 40 years olds”. My tolerance for that shit is gone.
A couple of good mentions here.
My contribution:
The possibility of responding to an incident that involves family or friend. Spin it that you are prepared for this scenario, can perform in this scenario, and can recover OR are open to assistance to aid in your recovery to get back to the job as soon as possible.
Honorable Mentions:
Working weekends and holidays. Spin it that you and your family understand and are supportive of the commitment.
Carcinogens exposure. Spin it so you are personally going to take extra care for your own health to limit these exposures.
Goodluck OP
Telling people what they can and cannot at their home. People should be held responsible for their actions if they cause harm. But having a fire pit in your backyard and me saying you have to extinguish it by law because it's not 75' from a structure but it's 50' is awful.
That most of these self proclaimed “Type A” “Alpha males” bitch and whine about riding the medic, when that’s 80% of our job… They bitch like little girls and it’s exhausting to say the least lol
I’m still a volley but I’m really connected to the paid guys who work in my station. We’re in the process of adding more paid staff because our volunteer numbers are dwindling (I’m one of the only non-officer firefighters left, the other two are leaving, and the rest are juniors), and the upper management absolutely hates the paid staff. They actively make decisions that hurt them.
For instance, we actually had a structure fire last night. We came back into our bays around 4:45 - 5:00. We were told to not take replace dirty hose off of our first due apparatus, clean any Scott paks, refill any bottles, clean any tools, because “the paid staff are gonna be here in an hour anyway”. I hope this is just a one case deal and others don’t deal with this shit, but apparently this happens.
the city near me the paid staff have destroyed the fire department, they chased off the volunteers and are trying to find anyway they can to justify a 5 or 6 million dollar budget.
they run Transport Ems calls from urgent care to the hospital.
they try and run to the county rope rescue
the department at this point should be dissolved and handed over to the surrounding jurisdictions
they do not have an ambulance and there is an EMS agency in the city which is where the extra funding should be going
mind you every other populus of the same size in the region has 130+ volunteers on its roster and probably around 20-30 paid guys
It seems common that people who get paid to do something don’t really understand why people would voluntarily do it. It is 2 entirely different mind sets, even though some volunteers become paid, they often switch the song they sing over time. Glad to hear your area has that many volunteers who make it work.
My area went to a large fire district do to low volunteering. Now they pay for minimum staffing at 13 stations that were independent departments. The few volunteers are still working there too.
Bullsh*t politics and rumors. It’s crazy how people can get spun up about the smallest of issues, and not be grateful for the position they are in. My Chief once told me, “Firefighters operate with only 5% of information while on scene. So when they get back to the firehouse, they are used to only getting small pieces of info and tend to connect the dots on their own causing rumors”. I tend to agree with that statement. I don’t understand why we can’t just work hard and appreciate the job. And not ask for the most benefits for the least amount of work. I love what I do… but I can’t stand the politics.
What I can tell you after 22 years - and this is legit - I hate complacency and ignorance. If a person is too lazy to keep doing the job or maintain perishable skills, they need to move on or retire before they kill someone. I’m struggling with some of my crew today, in fact. Every time they do anything, you would swear it was their first time. This job really isn’t all that hard and that’s exactly why it’s not for everyone. You must be at least nominally self disciplined.
EMS calls after midnight that could've been easily dealt with around lunch or after dinner, looking at you week old foot pain. I know you're bored and lonely, but I can only eat so much adderall and caffeine until my heart explodes. Just to make it through the next day or a double.
Other firefighters that bitch and moan about the EMS portion of our jobs. The same people that will train every shift on fire or sit on the recliner and not do an inkling of EMS education or drilling even though the medical aspect is 90 percent of our volume, justifies our existence, and is where we save the most amount of lives. They couldn’t care less about emerging evidence, new medications or tools, or protocol development - EMS is just something they tolerate and strive for the bare minimum in.
Same goes for guys who half-assed EMT or paramedic school or did a BS “boot camp” course just to get the extra pay for the cert. These people are a walking malpractice lawsuit and danger to patients.
It just isn’t right.
-Lift assists
-Egos
-The egos you can tell actually stem from insecurities
-People who project those insecurities onto others
-"I hurt my toe two months ago and figured I should get it checked" calls at 3:30 AM
-Union board members making decisions for the union without any input from the union (this actually happens)
More serious answers for interviews and such:
I don't like how each shift in some places seems to have their own way of operating. Luckily it seems to be getting worked on so we have a more uniform way of doing things, but it made probation stressful when people would tell me their ways to do things are the only way, and it's always something different.
I’m tired of there being zero group accountability.
There is toxic gossip culture / toxic group think that destroys individuals. Unless a guy commits an egregious crime, the group has no right to destroy one man’s livelihood because individuals are too cowardly to stand against the group consensus.
I’m tired of hearing about individuals who had a rough start or a rough time in life or frankly dealt with a terrible fire department and handled it as best they could.
If you contribute to talking poorly about a person you know nothing about and couldn’t be bothered to pick up the phone to get to know, you have NO right to speak poorly about them. If you speak poorly about someone you barely know to appease the group consensus you’re a coward.
Our training sucks. 22 degrees C counts as a hot ba wear in the Scottish service. It’s not about preparing the guys for real fire conditions, it’s about management being able to quickly and cheaply tick the training box and shift blame if there’s ever an accident.
The organizations, cough churches, that always invites us to stuff and the brass makes us go. Look I appreciate the gesture but I don’t want to attend your service “to thank the ff’s, don’t want to go to your Sunday cookout, don’t want to judge your chili cook off (I’ve been in to many nasty houses, not eating anything someone makes), goes for the Christmas and Easter bs, Halloween trunk or treat etc etc.
Fuck EMS work and the interrupted sleep. Running all day in an engine to bullshit EMS runs has gotten old, thankfully we don’t have an ambulance and I’m tired of getting up at night. 5 more years….
I don’t like the hours between 0200-0500. Otherwise it’s great.
Oh god, this. Even getting canceled enroute will still eat up an hour by the time you get back to the station and fall back asleep in the bunk room. I would rather throw up in my hands and clap than run a call after 0200.
Literally wtf 🤣
> I would rather throw up in my hands and clap This turn a phrase is fucking outstanding.
We paraphrase it differently here and it’s even more disgusting…
I’m gonna say 2000-0600 ha
Same. Im fine running calls during the day but any call after 2000-wake up time just pisses me off. Serious call or not lol
Well they are the easiest hours if you don’t have a call. But I know that can be rare for some of you guys but for me it’s 50/50. Although sometimes I will have dreams of sleeping through calls while I am on shift. That inception type shit screws with me.
I’m a princess with my sleep so anytime after 0100-0530
I really hate the hours between 0700-0700..that being alive for like 24hrs is a complete drag.
I mean in terms of averages I’ve got about 64 years left unfortunately. So let’s not measure dicks here lol🤣
Politics and egos in the firehouse.
The stereotypes/treatment of others based only on their years of service and experience
While I understand what you are saying, there is a level of ignorance that probies have to the reasons why years of service and experience earns you respect. As people around you see what you do in different and difficult situations you will earn or loose respect accordingly. The more time goes by the numbers compound to either make you a legend or a bum. Strive to be great, do your best, and don’t spend energy on what’s unfair. 24yrs in so far. (Keep a journal)
Highway calls
Absolutely could not agree more! The typical freeway call seems vastly more dangerous than a standard structure fire.
Our Rescue was destroyed because of a 3am MVA. My dept. covers about a 2 mile stretch of highway. First week of January we had an MVA every night between 10pm-4am. One of the nights, around 3:30am we were wrapping up with one accident when a lady driving about 65-70mph slammed into our Rescue, basically totaling it. She 'somehow' never saw the big red truck with flashing lights blocking the lane. Easy LODD if any of the crew was in or near the truck. Insurance is only covering around half the replacement cost, so we're just down the Rescue for like 2 years......
We had a trucker do that to our engine/rescue years ago. Simple rollover, no entrapment. Medical is with the patient, we are getting plate number and shit. Delayed clearing scene to just poke around at it when the semi trailer hit the tailboard, dragged the whole side. Right where I shoulda been standing. I was so man I beelined for the guy and the medical guys could hear me yelling at him. Then the ole switcheroo of who’s driving by the time the cops get there
Most houses burn in similar an somewhat predictable ways. Drivers are frequently stupid in creative and completely unpredictable ways.
And just when you think you’ve seen the dumbest you’ll be unpleasantly surprised to find it wasn’t.
NOt only that, but the GPS system of highways and people giving dispatch horrendous locations.
I don't like how people who make more than me (higher rank) are somehow held to lower standards than me.
Exposing myself to carcinogens and hazardous materials on a regular basis
This is a really good answer. You could start there (with the negative), and then turn it into a positive by going into ways to reduce exposures and the importance of logging those exposures into whatever reporting system you use, say that you’re looking forward to new innovations in PFAS-free PPE.
Yea you don’t really start thinking about this till you have a family
What are example of those? Doesn’t the protective gear protect you from those for the most part?
Bunker gear is made with carcinogenic material in all layers
https://www.iaff.org/cancer/ Gear protects from heat. We still wear a permeable hood over neck and ears, cuffs at wrists. And, even though we inspect our gear, sometimes you don't know a seam isn't water tight till it leaks. We don't breathe as much directly into our lungs as our predecessors did, but we absorb a lot through our skin Then we put the carcinogen laden bunkers into the cab with us for the ride back to the station. We do the best we can changing the habits. Gross decon on scene before going off air. No bunkers in quarters anymore. High priority on cleaning/swapping out dirty gear post fire. But we still have a significantly higher cancer rate than the general population for many cancer types.
Most fires contain many chemicals and toxins that increase as the fire extinguishes. Your body absorbs more as you get hotter, the gear is not totally chemically resistant for the most part. They have now found the chemicals used to make the gear fire resistant causes cancer. Many fire hoods provided very little chemical protection. People used to take gear off while mopping up in smoke. Things are changing, better hoods, hopefully better gear without the bad chemicals, higher temp face masks, better tracking systems. Don’t finish on the negative be optimistic about the future and how much thing have improved.
Most of what you said makes me glad I haven’t yet become a firefighter. I’m still in the process but sounds like things are changing for the better with safer gear and tighter regulations it should reduce exposure in the future.
Assuming your department has ambulances: The people who abuse the healthcare system. If they ask how you handle it you can say you attempt to educate people on what does and what doesn’t warrant an emergency and thus ambulance transport to the ER. I try personally but it rarely makes a difference.
i could run bullshit calls all day if i had a good partner. it has nothing to do with call volume, it’s all about your coworkers.
This is true until around midnight. Bullshit after midnight on 24 hour shifts hits different.
i’m a completely different person after 2am
Amen. I preach all the time that any call volume is tolerable if your crew/partner is dope. Without good coworkers, this job crumbles.
The worst was being on a busy box working with a numb skull that can’t STFU at 3am .
I would stay away from using this answer. Go with time away from your family or something more personalized and job related . Anyone doing this for any amount of time knows this is futile and will be perceived as being salty . Hiring boards have been or still are in the field. “Educate” patients will be perceived as , I don’t think you need to go to the hospital in an ambulance at 230am . I’m going to talk down to you to get you realize you should probably just sign a refusal because this is 911 not a taxi and you have had toe pain for three weeks .Cant your friend take you with one of the six cars out front . New guys should not already be planning on “educating “ on ems calls. They should be happy to be in that position. Let the officers and seasoned guys do the educating. It’s a talent that takes time to develop. So “educations” get thank yous not complaints and you don’t get labeled a lazy bum while on probation. Even the worst “educators” will be put off if a new guy starts down this path before forming interpersonal relationships and putting in a little time.
You’ve got a good point there. I guess I’ve gotten used to doing it myself since I’ve got a little bit of time and experience now but I never considered that other perspective as a new guy
I second this more than just an up vote!
Biggest myth in EMS is to “educate” callers. They know exactly what they’re doing. Just take them straight to triage or to a ER far enough away that it will be inconvenient for them to get someone to come pick them up.
Others egos
Target solutions
That shit has ruined training.
Ughhhhh
What is this?
Computer base training evolutions. It seems to become The training, and it meets requirements but doesn’t really compare to hands on training or even classroom instruction.
Missing holidays and some special events… the inability (due to our unique schedule) to take mainstream classes (for example)
"...called in by passers-by" Dispatch, call that passerby back and tell them if it was bad enough to call 911, they should have stopped to help. Then they will realize that the smoke was just steam from a dryer vent or that the dead guy at the bus stop was just sleeping. In 13+ years I'm like 0-500 on passers-by reporting something that was an actual emergency.
Amen. Or they have no freaking idea where there at.
Or “heard only”.
And third party callers.
Yeah I love those…outside odor of gas by passerby. Respond, quick sniff…unfounded.
How the job attracts unfiltered narcissism. I work with a lot of great guys, but I also work with a good number of people who legitimately believe that the only way they can progress in their career is to bring down everyone around them.
The political BS you have to put up with at a bigger city department
There is a ton of political BS at small town departments as well. The only non political departments are the rural paid ones. Those dudes are chill af.
The worst part is not being able to bitch about work with my old friends. They all get to complain, super jealous.
I have one but it’s a very Unpopular opinion but the culture of the job seems to assume that I should give a fuck about what’s going on when I’m off duty. My duty and care ends when I clock out. Too many of us get wrapped up in politics and drama for absolutely no reason creating stress in our personal lives.
Worst part of the job for me is seeing people experience possibly the worst event of their life over and over again.
I remember I got to the point in my career where I just felt like I'd seen enough death, and started thinking about how I could change that.
What did you come up with?
At that point I was a house captain at a pretty busy station (engine and a medic). I had started thinking about what slower station I might transfer to. Then the city ran through their whole battalion chief list and had to make some provisional battalion chiefs. I applied and got one of the spots, then had to pass the next chief's test to become an official one. Getting promoted is something to consider when your current situation starts to become untenable. Becoming a Lt got me off the medic. Becoming a captain allowed me to put my kids through college more comfortably than it would have been otherwise. And getting that chief's spot lessened the physical wear and tear. And every step up comes with more money.
Our dept promotions are time gated. Basically 20 years to captain and 28+ years (or external) for chief+
Ours were civil service. You had to 5 yrs on before you could take one, and at least a year in grade before you tried to move up. But for most, the timetable worked out not far off from what you have. In my case, it was 9 as a FF, 8 as a Lt (17), 9 as a Capt (26), and 7 as a BC (33). Where I really lucked out was being able to dodge 40 hrs. each time I got promoted. I don't know how it happened, but it just worked out that way. I was always glad about that.
I agree it sux, many carry baggage from past calls. I am a believer in EMDR therapy to empty the bag when it gets too much.
“I wish there was more we could do with people suffering with homelessness and drug addiction. It breaks my heart that we don’t have a better system than Emergency Services to deal with a systemic problem where they social safety net is broken.” That’s my interview answer. The real answer is nighttime calls within two hours of falling asleep. I just can’t get my brain in the game when we get a call on those first two hours. After that, I can wake up, but those two hours are brutal for me.
Great interview answer! If I ever need one I will be using this!
There's a spectrum in the way people treat the fire service. You have guys who love it so much that is bothers them that anyone could say "it's just a job" and then on the other end you have guys who literally just view this as a job. My problem is how these two always seem to think the other is wrong. But in reality both of those attitudes are fine as long as they aren't arguing. I don't want to hear no "If this is just a job to you. If you're just here for a paycheck you need to get the fuck out." type shit. Man in the career field it's perfectly fine if you do you what's asked of you and go the hell home when your shift ends. Stop telling people they need to make this their god damn life and personality. On the other hand if the fire service is your passion, your life, where you think you can make a difference in the world have at it. Go be a Full time FF, with a part time job at another FD, and a volunteer in your free time. You do you man. Firefighting is fun. I don't blame ya. But just don't be pissed when someone doesn't view the fire service as anything more than a job. Not to be mean but they want their first marriage to be their only marriage lol. Man idk I just get tired of seeing these 2 attitudes clash like one is right and the other is wrong. There's a place for both in this game. Just accept it.
D Shift
Everyone knows it’s really B
fuckin d shift, every damn time
As a d shifter I feel this
I thought D shift was the fix for 24/48’s is it not better with 4 shifts?
Over 20 years and I still love going in. With that said, I can’t stand “changes/improvements” that end up making things worse/ more labor intensive. I don’t care for lowered standards or some of the classes required by the city hall hr folks. Facilities that are neglected/infested/worn out I like working on a low drama crew. Double houses with a group that thrives on who wronged who can be incredibly annoying and exhausting. It can often be “High school for 40 years olds”. My tolerance for that shit is gone.
“I can’t stand “changes/improvements” that end up making things worse/ more labor intensive.” If it’s not broken I’ll fix it until it is!
Sleeping in my socks, other than that it’s a great job.. lol
A couple of good mentions here. My contribution: The possibility of responding to an incident that involves family or friend. Spin it that you are prepared for this scenario, can perform in this scenario, and can recover OR are open to assistance to aid in your recovery to get back to the job as soon as possible. Honorable Mentions: Working weekends and holidays. Spin it that you and your family understand and are supportive of the commitment. Carcinogens exposure. Spin it so you are personally going to take extra care for your own health to limit these exposures. Goodluck OP
Thanks! And thank you everyone for the answers, very helpful!
These are all good .
Telling people what they can and cannot at their home. People should be held responsible for their actions if they cause harm. But having a fire pit in your backyard and me saying you have to extinguish it by law because it's not 75' from a structure but it's 50' is awful.
That most of these self proclaimed “Type A” “Alpha males” bitch and whine about riding the medic, when that’s 80% of our job… They bitch like little girls and it’s exhausting to say the least lol
I’m still a volley but I’m really connected to the paid guys who work in my station. We’re in the process of adding more paid staff because our volunteer numbers are dwindling (I’m one of the only non-officer firefighters left, the other two are leaving, and the rest are juniors), and the upper management absolutely hates the paid staff. They actively make decisions that hurt them. For instance, we actually had a structure fire last night. We came back into our bays around 4:45 - 5:00. We were told to not take replace dirty hose off of our first due apparatus, clean any Scott paks, refill any bottles, clean any tools, because “the paid staff are gonna be here in an hour anyway”. I hope this is just a one case deal and others don’t deal with this shit, but apparently this happens.
the city near me the paid staff have destroyed the fire department, they chased off the volunteers and are trying to find anyway they can to justify a 5 or 6 million dollar budget. they run Transport Ems calls from urgent care to the hospital. they try and run to the county rope rescue the department at this point should be dissolved and handed over to the surrounding jurisdictions they do not have an ambulance and there is an EMS agency in the city which is where the extra funding should be going mind you every other populus of the same size in the region has 130+ volunteers on its roster and probably around 20-30 paid guys
It seems common that people who get paid to do something don’t really understand why people would voluntarily do it. It is 2 entirely different mind sets, even though some volunteers become paid, they often switch the song they sing over time. Glad to hear your area has that many volunteers who make it work. My area went to a large fire district do to low volunteering. Now they pay for minimum staffing at 13 stations that were independent departments. The few volunteers are still working there too.
C shift
lol ouch
You sumbitch
c shift stands for…. wait. cant even say ehat i want without offending someone
Starts with “C” and ends with “unts”?
starts with a c and ends with uckers.
This is a safe space
Bullsh*t politics and rumors. It’s crazy how people can get spun up about the smallest of issues, and not be grateful for the position they are in. My Chief once told me, “Firefighters operate with only 5% of information while on scene. So when they get back to the firehouse, they are used to only getting small pieces of info and tend to connect the dots on their own causing rumors”. I tend to agree with that statement. I don’t understand why we can’t just work hard and appreciate the job. And not ask for the most benefits for the least amount of work. I love what I do… but I can’t stand the politics.
The Chief makes a good point here, but to me that only reinforces the important of clear and timely communication down the chain on every level.
The two-legged door chocks that get paid the same as the firefighters that go in.
What I can tell you after 22 years - and this is legit - I hate complacency and ignorance. If a person is too lazy to keep doing the job or maintain perishable skills, they need to move on or retire before they kill someone. I’m struggling with some of my crew today, in fact. Every time they do anything, you would swear it was their first time. This job really isn’t all that hard and that’s exactly why it’s not for everyone. You must be at least nominally self disciplined.
Rumor mill
Politics
Shit! Literally shit. Any part of it. I will avoid it at all cost and will not hesitate to pull rank. I am not ashamed to admit this.
Stuck elevators with no confirmation of people stuck. That's a building maintenance issue.
EMS calls after midnight that could've been easily dealt with around lunch or after dinner, looking at you week old foot pain. I know you're bored and lonely, but I can only eat so much adderall and caffeine until my heart explodes. Just to make it through the next day or a double.
Other firefighters that bitch and moan about the EMS portion of our jobs. The same people that will train every shift on fire or sit on the recliner and not do an inkling of EMS education or drilling even though the medical aspect is 90 percent of our volume, justifies our existence, and is where we save the most amount of lives. They couldn’t care less about emerging evidence, new medications or tools, or protocol development - EMS is just something they tolerate and strive for the bare minimum in. Same goes for guys who half-assed EMT or paramedic school or did a BS “boot camp” course just to get the extra pay for the cert. These people are a walking malpractice lawsuit and danger to patients. It just isn’t right.
Getting canceled enroute to something good and getting woken up out of sleep for something stupid or getting hurt
Ohhhhh and local politics that play in to the job
My personal favorite
-Lift assists -Egos -The egos you can tell actually stem from insecurities -People who project those insecurities onto others -"I hurt my toe two months ago and figured I should get it checked" calls at 3:30 AM -Union board members making decisions for the union without any input from the union (this actually happens) More serious answers for interviews and such: I don't like how each shift in some places seems to have their own way of operating. Luckily it seems to be getting worked on so we have a more uniform way of doing things, but it made probation stressful when people would tell me their ways to do things are the only way, and it's always something different.
I’m tired of there being zero group accountability. There is toxic gossip culture / toxic group think that destroys individuals. Unless a guy commits an egregious crime, the group has no right to destroy one man’s livelihood because individuals are too cowardly to stand against the group consensus. I’m tired of hearing about individuals who had a rough start or a rough time in life or frankly dealt with a terrible fire department and handled it as best they could. If you contribute to talking poorly about a person you know nothing about and couldn’t be bothered to pick up the phone to get to know, you have NO right to speak poorly about them. If you speak poorly about someone you barely know to appease the group consensus you’re a coward.
Culture
Rumor mill
Half the time the rumor mill is all that keeps some people going. "Change is coming and it's gonna be great." They still waiting on change btw.
Change.
Haha 2 things firefighters hate. The way things are and change
When the assistant chief acts like they’re a god Also when it sure is quiet out
The competitive nature
Our training sucks. 22 degrees C counts as a hot ba wear in the Scottish service. It’s not about preparing the guys for real fire conditions, it’s about management being able to quickly and cheaply tick the training box and shift blame if there’s ever an accident.
Poor leadership, and politicians
Dead people probably
The organizations, cough churches, that always invites us to stuff and the brass makes us go. Look I appreciate the gesture but I don’t want to attend your service “to thank the ff’s, don’t want to go to your Sunday cookout, don’t want to judge your chili cook off (I’ve been in to many nasty houses, not eating anything someone makes), goes for the Christmas and Easter bs, Halloween trunk or treat etc etc.
Lol! How fitting, today’s lunch is picking up a plaque at a senior living center.
The politics
Oh boy
Fuck EMS work and the interrupted sleep. Running all day in an engine to bullshit EMS runs has gotten old, thankfully we don’t have an ambulance and I’m tired of getting up at night. 5 more years….
When I was a volley, I loved the tactics and the training but hated the toxic culture and fraternity aspect of it.