Not waking for house tones

[Extinguisher911]

I know we have all done it at least once, so lets not get into that. Well yesterday was the 3rd time in 3 months that I missed a late night house tone. It seems that once a month I miss a call. One of my fellow backstepers' knows it and looks out for me. Well I was on OT and didn't have someone watching my back. I did not miss the run but had to be paged over the intercom. When I miss tones, I never even hear them. Our paging system is not as loud as my old POC dept. Also at my old POC the lights come on. At my fulltime the bunk lights don't come on. I never missed a call before starting my fulltime.

Anyone here got any advice....

[nameless]

not having the lights come on is kind of weird, but you can't change that so oh well.

Make sure you are well rested before going into work, and try to sleep in a way that isn't extremely comfortable

[FWDbuff]

It happens.....But that many times in that short a time span? Wow you crank out some Z's boy!

I had the same problem, although not as often. I slept very soundly (could fall asleep anywhere, too....one time fell asleep in the jumpseats on the way back from a run, and there they left me till I woke up an hour later after everyone else went upstairs to bed.....)

-The buddy system is good, but like you said, what happens if you are on OT or a shift trade? Even if you are not working your normal shift, get someone to kick your bed if there is a run.

-House lights work wonders.....Perhaps your department could look into them. It's not really expensive to do.

-Do you have pagers? Perhaps you could put one on the bedside table, with the volume all the way up.....

[dfd3dfd3]

Put a portable radio next to your bed with the volume up. That is what I do and it works.

[bharer75]

if your department can afford it get get this alerting system...

http://www.firestationalerting.com/c...page/Itemid,1/

[MemphisE34a]

I know we have all done it at least once, so lets not get into that. Well yesterday was the 3rd time in 3 months that I missed a late night house tone. It seems that once a month I miss a call. One of my fellow backstepers' knows it and looks out for me. Well I was on OT and didn't have someone watching my back. I did not miss the run but had to be paged over the intercom. When I miss tones, I never even hear them. Our paging system is not as loud as my old POC dept. Also at my old POC the lights come on. At my fulltime the bunk lights don't come on. I never missed a call before starting my fulltime.

Anyone here got any advice....

1st piece of advice - end questions with question marks.

2nd piece of advise - when your buddy that normally kicks your bed is off, ask someone else to do it.

[onlocation]

wire your bed in with the tones
a little shock ought to get you up and going!!! lol!!!

[jakesdad]

If you can't wake up for a run..then don't go to sleep at work.

It shouldn't be someones elses' responsibility to "get your back" and wake you up.

I find it hard to believe you are even asking this question.

[FyredUp]

In the house I work in it is simply the norm to cover each others *** and make sure the entire crew gets up. It seems to me it happens to everyone eventually that you miss the tones. Either you had a rough day the day before, or you aren't feeling particularly well, or you just were fortunate enough to fall into a good deep restful sleep...it happens.

A couple of suggestions that to me are impractical:

1) Portable radio by your bed. We have semi open dorms and with 3 stations and 5 ambulances, as well as he other apparatus, all that portable radio is going to do is **** everyone off in the bunk room when they are woke up by every call in the city.

2) Don't ever sleep on duty. Totally impractical, especially when you are working trades and may be there for 2 or 3 days in a row. It is a simple thing to ask some one on the same rig to make sure you are up, just as you would do it for therm.

[GaiusPaul]

Put a portable radio next to your bed with the volume up. That is what I do and it works.

I would be up every few minutes with all the dispatch chatter throughout the night from the other stations.

[Catch22]

Is there a volume knob on the speaker? If so, turn it up. If not, maybe the FD needs to install one with an adjustable volume to make sure it wakes everyone up. I don't know of any standard that regulates the decibal rating of tones, but if it's not loud enough to wake everyone up (I have my doubts you're the only one to not wake up for tones), it's time to turn up the volume and/or find a new system (add lights).

Out of curiosity, do they just leave without you if you're not on the truck?

If you can't wake up for a run..then don't go to sleep at work.

It shouldn't be someones elses' responsibility to "get your back" and wake you up.

I find it hard to believe you are even asking this question.

You're kidding, right? I will agree with you, though, in that it's not someone else's responsibility to "get your back." But it is the officer's responsibility to make sure his entire crew is on the truck and ready to go.

As FyredUp already pointed out, you can't expect a guy on OT (which he said he was on in his original post) or even someone working a 24 not to sleep during the shift.

[Fire303]

Posted previously

But it is the officer's responsibility to make sure his entire crew is on the truck and ready to go.

There are a lot of things that an Officer is reponsible for.............
You getting on the rig is not one of them, and do not start with the what if he is sick or dead in the rack. Yes I would look for him and yes his well-being is paramount, but after that...............

There are 2 things that are expected of Firemen when they go to work....
1) Show up on time
2) Go where they tell you

If these 2 things can't be accomplished, fix the problem or transfer to Staff so you can work days. Yeah, I know but it is an option because if you worked for me, after the 2nd issue you would be writing.

[Catch22]

Posted previously

But it is the officer's responsibility to make sure his entire crew is on the truck and ready to go.

There are a lot of things that an Officer is reponsible for.............
You getting on the rig is not one of them, and do not start with the what if he is sick or dead in the rack. Yes I would look for him and yes his well-being is paramount, but after that...............

There are 2 things that are expected of Firemen when they go to work....
1) Show up on time
2) Go where they tell you

If these 2 things can't be accomplished, fix the problem or transfer to Staff so you can work days. Yeah, I know but it is an option because if you worked for me, after the 2nd issue you would be writing.

Your 2 expectations are all well and good (even if it's missing quite a few expectation), but I can tell you what would happen if I showed up on a fire missing a crewmember. The Batt Chief wouldn't be asking him where he was, he'd be asking me, being the Captain. Care to guess who's going to get disciplined for leaving the station without a fully manned company?

Bottom line is the Captain (or whatever rank the crew supervisor has) is responsible for his crew and his truck, that includes leaving with a fully-staffed company. If I have a member having trouble waking up to night tones, we're not going to leave him sleeping, we're going to find a way to identify the root of the problem and solve it as opposed to "teaching him a lesson" and leaving him in bed while we run the call.

[JaredMTFD]

Look on eBay and find a used pager...Minitor II, III, IV, V...doesn't matter. Program it to your department's radio frequency and alert tones. Put it by your bed with the volume up.

If you get a Min III, IV, or V, you can use the vibe function and put it under your pillow. The Minitor V's have a setting that allows a vibe/beep at the same time, and would be most effective, either by your bed, attached to your body, or under the pillow.

Other than that, just ask one of your guys to make sure you are up. I don't think that is too much to ask. You are all there to do the job together, and have to look out for each other.
Everyone's body is different, and doesn't wake up in the same manner. You are not intentionally sleeping through the alarm, you just have no control over it.
If someone asked me to check their bed when the alarm goes off, then I would see it as my responsibility. He/She asked me because they know they have a sleep problem. It's my responsibility to look out for my crew just as they would do for me.

Anyone who says otherwise has the wrong attitude. In the same way, anyone who says something ignorant like "well, just stay awake and don't sleep" is also full of it, because no one should be asked to stay awake for 24 hours. When we are working, we have a tough job to do, and adequate rest and sleep is necessary.

[fire0099881]

Just have your wife come sleep with you at the station. I am sure she would have no problem of waking up and then kicking you out of bed to go on a call!!! haha

[Dickey]

I used to have the same problem.

My situation was we had individual rooms and we had pagers so I just put a pager next to my head when I went to sleep. If I was at another station with a dorm type sleeping area, I would bribe the newbie with ice cream or to do some of his cleaning duties if he would make sure I was up.

I'm sure the department doesn't care if you can wake up or not and will not spend the money to install more speakers or automatic lights just for you. Granted, it happens now and again, no big deal. But if it becomes a regular thing and you get dependant on having someone wake you up, that's a problem. You are a big boy and the other guys at the house are not your babysitter.

A good officer will make sure all his guys are on the truck before you leave and will make sure you get yourself up either a good arse chewing or whatever will motivate you. Eventually, you will need to get used to the idea of getting up on your own.

Hopefully one of these tricks will work for you.

[dday05]

If you can't wake up for a run..then don't go to sleep at work.

It shouldn't be someones elses' responsibility to "get your back" and wake you up.

I find it hard to believe you are even asking this question.

I think someone should be able to hear the alarm since it is rather loud (atleast where I work)

But to comment on your post, it is fun to kick their bed to wake them up though!!!

[nameless]

If you can't wake up for a run..then don't go to sleep at work.

It shouldn't be someones elses' responsibility to "get your back" and wake you up.

I find it hard to believe you are even asking this question.

Excellent idea, I'm sure the other guys on the truck want someone riding with them to the 5am fire that hasn't slept in 20 hours. If his co-workers can't look over to see if he is in his bunk, something is wrong.

I find it hard to believe you are even that bent out of shape about it.

[Fire303]

The Officer is responsible to have a fully staffed company.Yes

It still is not his job to make sure every little Cub Scout gets up for the run.

Where is the personal responsibility for doing your job?

[Fire303]

You are on dead on target with your reply.