Quint SOP/SOG

[JAL IV]

I am the chief of a Western Maryland volunteer fire company. We have been in the ladder truck business (no pump or water) for more than 15 years. We recently purchased a 2000 Pierce 75 ft. quint with a 2000 GPM pump and a 500 gallon tank. It will go into service on or around August 1st.

My request is this... We will run the truck first due (with hydrants) and I am looking for input from companies doing the same in order to develop our SOP/SOG.

Thank you in advance for your comments.

JAL

[FF17]

If your quint is going to be first due, who is going to do the truck work that your old aerial used to do? Are the engine company members cross trained in truck functions.... if so then they could do the truck work if the quint members are busy advancing hose lines. Somehow your SOPs will have to make sure that both engine and truck company functions are covered. Once you have decided on some procedures, see how they work before you etch them in stone. Best of luck with your new apparatus.

[FyredUp]

Chief,

I believe like most FD's that buy quints you have fallen into the cart before the horse trap. What I mean is, shouldn't you have researched how or if this piece of equipment would fit in to your operations before you specced and then bought it?

When you plop a quint into a traditional engine / truck department without knowing what your plan is the transition to it is tough on everyone. It just doesn't seem to fit anywhere and the fallacy that it can do 2 jobs is a joke. It can only do 2 jobs if staffed with 5-10 people. And even then, most quints are horrible engines because of hose loading problems, or they are incomplete trucks because of a lack of compartments to keep the size down.

Now am I saying quints never work? No, I am not. But for them to work as a multi-purpose unit the thought process has to be as thorough as St. Louis or Richmond. Where response order and sizeup determine if the rig acts as a truck or engine.

To establish your sog's you must determine in your situation how YOU intend to use this piece of equipment. Then and only then can you write specific to your fire department sog's.

Good luck.....

FyredUp