Drinking in The FireHouse

[Engine1401CFD]

I was wondering what the Best approach to stopping Drinking in the FireHouse would be???
I mean a Station just down the road from us uses there training meeting to watch NASCAR and drink beer and it sickens me that they actually went out on a run after they were done drinking i mean firefighting is Dangerous Enough Sober so why risk it!!!!
do you guys think a Nation wide Ban could be provoked and if so what would be the best way to approach that

Any Help would be appreciated.

[RspctFrmCalgary]

I hope everyone treats this post with respect and patience rather than the usual flame job. Please be observant before jumping down this person's throat. Note the date of joining and read their previous posts. Then please do reply as you see fit. LOL

I ask that this thread be taken in the new spirit of "awareness" that certain crusties have been trying to encourage by initiating round-table discussions such as found in the following thread:

http://cms.firehouse.com/forums2/sho...threadid=61131

1401, welcome to the forums. You might want to do some research by using the search feature located on the side menu. The reason for the above comments are because this has been discussed over and over and over. As some will be sure to want to point out to you. Your question is laid out in a fairly intelligent manner and if my instincts are off, oh well everyone will flame away at me too!

[cozmosis]

Originally posted by Engine1401CFD
I mean a Station just down the road from us uses there training meeting to watch NASCAR and drink beer and it sickens me that they actually went out on a run after they were done drinking i mean firefighting is Dangerous Enough Sober so why risk it!!!!

If I knew that a group of firefighters responded to a call after consuming alcohol... I think I'd have to file a complaint with either the department or the local law enforcement agency. Obviously, drinking at the firehouse is a bad thing. But knowing that it's happening and not doing anything about it is almost as bad.

[38R1Proby2]

I know i my station if u go the the firehouse on a call or no call and you have been drinking u are kicked out. I think that is a great rule because u should not drive a truck or go on a call drunk because u will missup theres not a chance it will happen it will. So hope this will help u bye.

[ullrichk]

Someone needs to have the guts to talk about it. Those concerned might not see the error of their ways and they might not do anything about it if they did, but it's a good first step. After that, I'd say you would have to play it by ear.

[cellblock]

I was wondering what the Best approach to stopping Drinking in the FireHouse would be???

I'm still not sure after all this time. Several people in my department faced simular problems less than 5 years ago. Beer was sold out of the vending machine at the main station. Monthly business meetings were filled with those who had begun drinking before showing up and once at the station continued to drink and argue and throw cans and drag the meeting out for hours without accomplishing much. Training was very much the same, pop a tape in and them pop the top on a can.
First thing that happened was that someone anonymously tipped off the Alcohol Control Board about the beer in the Coke machine. A visit from the ABC board stopped that practice.
A couple months later a majority of us passed a resolution at a business meeting to ban beer at all meetings. For the next 3 months we didn't have enough board members or officers present to hold our scheduled meetings. Can you say Boycott? When the Officers returned it was with enough of the 'social' club members to pass a motion removing the beer ban. That's right. It wasn't lower echelon firefighters coming to the meetings drunk and leaving even more S**Tfaced. It was the longtime members who held the highest offices and board positions as well as their friends who didn't even run calls which overturned the ban.
So we accept the things that we can't change. Some quit the department and moved on to other things. Some of us stayed and we watch as marriages fail, livers pickle and POVs get banged up. When I joined the FD I knew what kind of group it was. The pagers would go off and 4 pickup trucks would leave the local bar with red lights flashing. If you went inside on any weekend you could always find at least 2 guys at the bar or at the pool tables wearing their VFD shirts and beers in front of them. Heck, if you wore your shirt in there when the kitchen was open the owner would give you a 10% firefighters discount on your food. Hopefully as we hire more paid personel the requirements and standards for the volunteer side of the department will tighten up and some of the behaviors which are now accepted will change. But it will take time.
Good luck,
Steve aka cellblock

[mtnfireguy]

Engine1401 This horse has been rode hard and I for one refuse to put it away just yet. There is no easy answer. Sometime peer pressure will do, In one department around here their insurance carrier told them to remove it or be dropped from coverage.

I am going to provide several links to information regarding this serious topic.

Here is another thread to take a look at

http://cms.firehouse.com/forums2/sho...threadid=49332

http://firefighting.com/articles/nam...asp?namID=8676

http://vcos.org/resources/VCOS%20Alcohol%20Policy.pdf

http://vcos.org/resources/VCOS%20Pos...%20Alcohol.pdf

http://www.iafc.org/news/article.asp?id=69

The list goes on...

[Weruj1]

HI and welcome to the forums ........as I am usually the first to get on the search band wagon, in this instance we cannot. This is not about some mundane topic about lights, nozzle types etc etc....this is a problematic and very damaging situation that as we can all see by this thread STILL lingers. This poster does not know where they are treading. I for one have no real answers, we as a department (along with our city fathers) banned it long ago without much fanfare. So for us it was easy, we have a rule that says you are not to resond after drinking any amount of intoxicant, plain and simple. I hope you review the links posted and know that you and your department are not alone............we are here for you.

[NJFFSA16]

Hmmmm. I wonder what their insurance carrier would do...if the word got out?