Biggest pet peeve....

[Trkco1]

Diarrhea of the mouth on the radio, The human door chock and someone that asks to borrow the tools I carry because they forgot theirs.

[L-Webb]

People fighting over the nozzle. f-ing hate it

[FWDbuff]

People fighting over the nozzle. f-ing hate it

Just do what I do- steal it as they are fighting over it (or when they drop it to put on their mask or gloves) and go put the fire out.

[scfire86]

Folks that overtighten hose connections.

Hose connections should be snug buit should be able to be broken without a spanner wrench. For god's sake snug is tight enough!

And I'm with FWD on the tools. It is something that we have been trying to drive home on my VFD for the last year or so, and it's finally happening.

People in online forums claiming to be firefighters when it is obvious they are not.

[TillamanTrk1]

Agreed to the poster above about breaking windows.. Very agrivating. Being a "truckie" and having the "Truckie" mentality, I can't stand it when engine crews tear up doors/hinges/frames "trying" to force entry knowing they have a truck crew (or 2) on scene that actually know what they are doing and can do it with minamal damage.

Also, Bottlenecking in stairways... Absolutley drives me insane. Either go up or stay down.

[dfwfirefighter]

...ICs (usually Chiefs) who think that NIMS ICS is applicable to every incident.

There is nothing more frustrating that watching a fire escalate while the "white shirts" are more worried about NIMs forms/paperwork, written Incident Action Plans (IAPs), and dry-erase markers than making decisions and having the first-in companies begin efforts to mitigate the incident.

A major incident of long duration involving multiple agencies? Yes - implement NIMS.

A 1-alarm house fire that will be extinguished utilizing the first-arriving companies? No - use the good ole' Fireground Command System (FCS) / ICS.

[dfwfirefighter]

Diarrhea of the mouth on the radio...

That usually involves the a radio message starting with "Be advised..." and ends with "...at the time".

For example, instead of simply stating the fire is under control, someone (who loves to hear himself talk on the radio) will turn it into "Be advised, the fire is under control at this time".

A quick diagnosis reveals double redundancy: once you keyed the radio and spoke, you already established the fact that you were going to say something which negates the need to "be advised". When you delivered your message, you established "at this time" without saying it.

[EastKyFF]

That usually involves the a radio message starting with "Be advised..." and ends with "...at the time".

For example, instead of simply stating the fire is under control, someone (who loves to hear himself talk in the radio will turn it into "Be advised, the fire is under control at this time".

A quick diagnosis reveals double redundancy: once you keyed the radio and spoke, you already established the fact that you were going to say something which negates the need to "be advised". When you delivered your message, you established "at this time" without saying it.

We have a guy who arrived at an MVC to report "Negative entrapment at this time." I sure hope we kept anybody from getting trapped later on! "Hey, don't get back in that car! You might get trapped at THIS time!"

[nameless]

Also, Bottlenecking in stairways... Absolutley drives me insane. Either go up or stay down.

As an engine guy I hate the guys that ride my butt on the stairs. If I'm slower than they'd like going up the stairs and making the turn, its probably because it is especially hot up there.

I also get annoyed when later due companies parade down the street. If you're the 2nd in engine or truck, come into the block from the opposite way. Two ladder trucks, one behind the other, that 2nd one can't use its aerial. For engines, they're probably pulling from the same main. Come down from the opposite end and maybe catch a hydrant fed from a different main. I know many systems are looped, but always good to be safe.

[RFDACM02]

We have a guy who arrived at an MVC to report "Negative entrapment at this time." I sure hope we kept anybody from getting trapped later on! "Hey, don't get back in that car! You might get trapped at THIS time!"

That's great and alos one of my PP's, it seems that many of our dispatchers need to add "at this time..." to every conditions report (fire or medical). Well no sheet "at this time" few callers to 911 have crystal balls, and most don't call about last weeks chest pain or garage fire.

[tree68]

Bucket words, as the speaker at a seminar I attended called them. They're usually so much of a habit that the users doesn't even realize what they're saying. I catch myself from time to time, but I've become conscious of them and try my best to avoid them.

Kinda like the folks in my county that start their radio transmissions with the department name, even though the first number in a unit's call sign is unique to each department (ie, "Podunk 68-1-2"). Like East Podunk also has an engine 68-1-2? East Podunk is 47-#-#...

[FyredUp]

Ah, Ummers, on the radio. They key the mike and the first words out of their mouth are "Ah, Um" or a deadly silence. DON'T KEY THE MIKE UNTIL YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO SAY!

[bcjack]

Law Enforcement people that don't understand (or refuse to understand) the concept of blocking lanes to create a safe working area. All you hear from them is "Move that thing, we gotta keep traffic moving".

[FWDbuff]

Kinda like the folks in my county that start their radio transmissions with the department name, even though the first number in a unit's call sign is unique to each department (ie, "Podunk 68-1-2"). Like East Podunk also has an engine 68-1-2? East Podunk is 47-#-#...

This is annoying too. Whats wrong with plainspeak designations, like "Chief 1" or Engine 1, Engine 2, Medic 1, Rescue 1, Truck 1, Tower 1, etc etc etc etc.......Why does something as simple as Engine 1 have to be 37-4-38 or 4-5-6 7/8ths?

[GTRider245]

Bucket words, as the speaker at a seminar I attended called them. They're usually so much of a habit that the users doesn't even realize what they're saying. I catch myself from time to time, but I've become conscious of them and try my best to avoid them.

Kinda like the folks in my county that start their radio transmissions with the department name, even though the first number in a unit's call sign is unique to each department (ie, "Podunk 68-1-2"). Like East Podunk also has an engine 68-1-2? East Podunk is 47-#-#...

We identify ourselves by department any time we respond or operate with mutual aid companies for two reasons. First, we don't do it that often. It is a once or twice a year situation. Second, we don't use the 14 part identifier system for apparatus. There are 3 departments in our county, all using the same normal numbering system (Engine 1, Truck 2, etc.) so it could be easy to get confused.


Now for departments who are part of a mutual aid system that is utilized daily, I see your point. If Podunk VFD is company 3 and East Podunk VFD is company 4, I see nothing wrong with Podunk just saying Engine 3-1. Everyone operating in the system should know that is Podunk on the radio.

Ah, Ummers, on the radio. They key the mike and the first words out of their mouth are "Ah, Um" or a deadly silence. DON'T KEY THE MIKE UNTIL YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO SAY!

We have a chief that starts every transmission with 10-4. Even if there is no one to 10-4 to.

[GTRider245]

People fighting over the nozzle. f-ing hate it

More so when those people arrived on a truck company. I used to hate seeing my OIC heading for the line. They can have it. I will be over here throwing ladders and doing truck stuff.

[FuturePrimitive]

Six guys all bunched up on the stairs and no one feeding hose.

This is annoying too. Whats wrong with plainspeak designations, like "Chief 1" or Engine 1, Engine 2, Medic 1, Rescue 1, Truck 1, Tower 1, etc etc etc etc.......Why does something as simple as Engine 1 have to be 37-4-38 or 4-5-6 7/8ths?

There are something like 35 fire departments in my county, all of them (except 1) dispatched on the same channel, many of which have automatic mutual aid agreements. It would be pretty confusing if there were 35 Engine 2s! The 3 (or 4) digit truck number tells you everything about that truck; Battalion, department, and apparatus type.

[FWDbuff]

Six guys all bunched up on the stairs and no one feeding hose.

There are something like 35 fire departments in my county, all of them (except 1) dispatched on the same channel, many of which have automatic mutual aid agreements. It would be pretty confusing if there were 35 Engine 2s! The 3 (or 4) digit truck number tells you everything about that truck; Battalion, department, and apparatus type.

Uh huh.....And we have 80 Departments in our county, with (IIRC) 94 total stations, all dispatched on the same channel with automatic mutual aid through box assignments. We are a suburb of Philadelphia, and are busy- never a lack of radio traffic. Everyone has a station number- Station 16 has Engine 16, Engine 16-1 and Special Service 16 (Air/Light/Power) Utility 16 (an SUV.) EMS is on a completely different system, but you have Medic 359 and Medic 359-1. If you are BLS then it is just 359 or 359-1.

Guys down the road have Engine 13, Engine 13-1 and 13-2. Tower 13, Rescue 13.

Now lets throw in the mix of running in two different counties- on auto mutual aid no less....when we go responding in Bucks, we simply identify ourselves as "Montgomery Engine 16 responding." They run with us automatically and do the same thing- "Bucks Engine 54 responding."

It's not rocket science and makes life WAY easier!!!!

[FuturePrimitive]

Uh huh.....And we have 80 Departments in our county, with (IIRC) 94 total stations, all dispatched on the same channel with automatic mutual aid through box assignments. We are a suburb of Philadelphia, and are busy- never a lack of radio traffic. Everyone has a station number- Station 16 has Engine 16, Engine 16-1 and Special Service 16 (Air/Light/Power) Utility 16 (an SUV.) EMS is on a completely different system, but you have Medic 359 and Medic 359-1. If you are BLS then it is just 359 or 359-1.

Guys down the road have Engine 13, Engine 13-1 and 13-2. Tower 13, Rescue 13.

Now lets throw in the mix of running in two different counties- on auto mutual aid no less....when we go responding in Bucks, we simply identify ourselves as "Montgomery Engine 16 responding." They run with us automatically and do the same thing- "Bucks Engine 54 responding."

It's not rocket science and makes life WAY easier!!!!

Actually your system is almost identical to ours, the only minor difference is what you call your station number would be analogous to our department number. For instance, my departments number is 38, so our trucks are numbered 380, 381, 382, etc.... That's really all there is to it.

[EastKyFF]

My pet peeve is when twenty eleven dozen guys come and stand behind and in front of the PPV when we're ventilating. AIR CONE, PEOPLE!!!