48-on/96-off Work Schedule

[afdchief120]

Can anyone provide me with the pro's and con's of the 48-on/96-off (2X4)work schedule? Any assistance would be greatly apprciated. Thank you.

[emsbrando]

We are trying that schedule in a couple of our EMS stations. One station is rather slow and the other is pretty busy. Those who are overtime hogs love the schedule so they can have the 4 days off in a row so they can work an extra shift or two and still have a couple of days to relax.

Those who love their time off like the schedule so they can just relax, and if they need an extra shift they still have 3 days with their families. We have more crews that want to go with it but if the station is too busy we don't want the crews to be too exhausted the second day. The amount of hours worked during the year is the same as a 24/48 so it is budget neutral in that regard, but the 4 days off in a row is what is so attractive about it.

Ed

[kghemtp]

Pro-- SO much time for family in the downtime
Con-- 48 is a LONG time at the station, and people are not as sharp after the first 24.

Think about patient care and safety of the responders, being on 48 hours straight.

Good luck!

[spegram]

The Loveland Symmes FD went to 48/96 shifts a little over 4 years ago. Overall they have worked out great. The guys love the time off. The shift supervisor was given the ability to adjust the work schedule the secoind day based upon call volume during the first day/night.

We are a suburban career department. We average 10 runs a day (3,500 + a year) some days are really busy, most nights we sleep through the night except for an EMS detail or two. We start our first day at 7AM and the second at 8AM if there is no sleep interuption. If were up during the night the crews can sleep in, there is no policy on how long, it's worked out by each crew & the shift supervisor. When we have had fires or lot's of runs we have let the guys sleep a couple of hours the next day.

To make the schedule work you have to be flexable. The only Con we have found is the holidays hit the same crew for multiple years. We go to a 24/48 shift for two weeks in December otherwise the same crew would work Christmas eve and day for multiple years straight.

Feel free to e-mail me at LSFD for any additional questions.

spegram@safety-center.org