Just curious... How many hours of sleep do you get per shift?
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Just curious... How many hours of sleep do you get per shift?
Let's see... the last shift at the fire station... Saturday
calls after 2100
2130 - Chest Pain Call
2230 - Low Blood Sugar - Refusal
2345 - Seizure
0115 - Accident - Car into a brick pillar/fence @ 45mph - 1 injury - DUI
0330 - Accident - Two vehicle MVA - Both cars ended up in the cornfield
No injuries and again a DUI
couldnt help but get in on this one-
calls for sunday
0700-2100 nothing...just 3 hours of MDA collection
2130-murder/suicide attempt, both shot in the face, both still alive...
2300-another suicide attempt
0200-activated alarm
0445- 10-50 in the ditch, 1 injury
0600-activated alarm
0700-1/2 pot of coffee and off to my other job :D
Consolidate this thing.....
http://forums.firehouse.com/showthre...659#post572659
Not paid to sleep on shift. Not paid to sit in recliners. That is a fringe benefit of the job and should not be viewed as a given.
Ok 210,
My sleeping and recliner ARE a given. The day we go to 40 hour weeks with 8 hour shifts is the day my recliner/bed is considered a "fringe". Until then, when 1600 rolls around, its my time to sit in a recliner or even take a nap. I usually am cooking so I personally don't very often, but I have that option. I am a little surprised to see that comment Jay. It is bad enough when someone from the uninformed public say something like that. One more thing, on those odd nights we happen to not have a run.. I LOVE IT ! It means that everyone had a safe night.
Mike, I'm not slamming, faulting, jamming, or protesting the recliners or the beds. I'm not suggesting that anything be changed. When I worked the 24-48s, I loved the nights when we got to sleep thorugh. But I didn't take them as a given. I'm sure you either work with somebody or know somebody on the job who bitches and moans-- or is deliberately slow to get up-- when the tones drop after 10:00pm (I knew one that didn't want to go after 5pm). My comment was directed as those who think that sleeping or lounging is a right and the public service we are paid for is an inconvience. I know departments where they loaf around all day (and these are suburban depts that don't exactly run their butts off). I know departments where the firefighters think they are paid to make ***-imprints in recliners; ask them to go train and they have a fit.Quote:
Originally Posted by MIKEYLIKESIT
Jim Page wrote an article before his death, deatiling a trip he'd made cross-country, where he found many fire departments with friendly, active, enthusiastic firefighters. And many places where they couldn't even be rousted from the chair to show a visitor on a map how to get to the central station. That's what I was driving at with my comment. I'm going to see if I can find the article.
I couldn't find it online, but here is the text. It appeared in the November 2004, issue of FireRescue Magazine.
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Quote:
Recliner Abuse
When the next big one happens, will our nation's first first responders be asleep in thier easy chairs?
James O. Page, August 7,1936-September 4, 2004, was Publisher Emeritus of FireRescue Magazine. This column was one of four final columns he submitted before his death. We will continue to run his columns through December 2004.
When did recliner chairs first become standard equipment in fire stations? I cant remember, but I really liked them. After a full day of drills, fire prevention inspections and running calls, it felt good to sink into the La-Z-Boy for an after-dinner power nap. With a little luck, I could stack Zs for 20 minutes or so before the alarm bell rang again.
During the last 15 years, I've walked into hundreds of fire stations, all over North America, usually unannounced. For the first 10 years, during weekdays, the recliners were empty during daylight hours and the TV was off. Weekends were another matter, especially if a big sporting event was being broadcast.
About five years ago, I began to notice a change. I was visiting a suburban city in the Midwest. The assistant city manager took me to the main station of their career fire department. We walked in and a buzzer signaled that somebody had opened the front door. When nobody came to the front office, we looked in the apparatus room. All the vehicles were there. So my host led me into the living quarters.
In a darkened room just off the kitchen, the entire on-duty crew was supine in their recliners. Some were asleep. The others were engrossed in a movie on HBO. It was 2 p.m. Upon seeing us in the doorway, an officer came out of his chair, rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and made a lame excuse: “The guys were really tired.” The rest of the crew remained supine and the movie continued.
Earlier this year in another state, I walked through an unlocked door of a career fire station. It was mid-afternoon. The on-duty crew was supine in their recliners. One of them turned his head my way and, from a fully reclined position, asked, "What can I do for ya?"
A month later, in yet another state, I entered the unlocked door of a fire station at 10:30 a.m. It was a combination department. Walking down a hallway, I looked for the door to the office. The third door on the right was open and three on-duty members were in their recliners, watching TV. To get their attention, I said, "Pardon me. Where would I find the fire chief?" Without turning to look at me, one of the members said, "He's at the downtown fire hall." "Can you direct me to it?" I asked. Reluctantly, the youngest of the three retracted his recliner and guided me to a wall map.
Is this a trend or a coincidence? Have these people forgotten that they work for increasingly grouchy taxpayers? What if I had been a local businessman who works 80 hours a week just to pay his taxes and keep his doors open?
Even if taxpayers weren't on the warpath, there is not a community in America that doesn't need more fire prevention or smoke alarm inspections, or more fire safety education. There is not a fire department in America that couldn't use more training. No fire department in America can boast that it enjoys the respect of every citizen in its community.
Granted, in some urban areas, every 24-hour shift is an endurance contest consisting of 10 or more emergency responses, most of which occur after dark. But the places where I've seen recliner abuse don't have that problem.
We've all seen examples of job benefits that ultimately are abused. This may be another example. In recent years, America's firefighters have enjoyed a reputation for selfless dedication to the public. Everybody who witnesses evidence to the contrary will tell at least a dozen relatives and friends.
As we await the next attack by terrorists avowed to destroy us and our way of life, our fellow citizens need to know that their firefighters are ready, willing and able to respond effectively. Something about a firefighter asleep in a recliner in the middle of the afternoon does not inspire confidence.
Every fire company has a leader. There are many ways to measure a leader's effectiveness. There is one sure way to evaluate the leader of a typical fire company. If members of that fire company routinely occupy the recliners between the daylight hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., their leader has failed them and the community they have the honor of serving.
A harsh judgment? Maybe so. But watching Oprah or sleeping through an afternoon movie cannot prepare you for the harsh realities of a post 9/11 world. And if making good use of your on-duty time is too much to ask, at least lock the damn door.
Thanks for the clarification Jay.