Apparatus equipment door decals

[wrangler76]

I'm looking for info on decals to mark equipment doors on our apparatus indicating their contents. Does anyone have their apparatus marked in a similar fashion? Who is your supplier for the labels? Thanks in advance!

[firepundit]

Yes, it has been done and its pretty simple to do. Find a sign shop that specializes in cut vinyl. It really doesn't cost much (unless you do with reflective or gold leaf).

[jfTL41]

our rigs come with tags from Door-Tagz.

[fireman4949]

I'm looking for info on decals to mark equipment doors on our apparatus indicating their contents. Does anyone have their apparatus marked in a similar fashion? Who is your supplier for the labels? Thanks in advance!

Maybe I'm missing something here, but shouldn't the crews KNOW where the tools are located on the units?

[firepundit]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but shouldn't the crews KNOW where the tools are located on the units?

There are circumstances where people have to work off of rigs they are not accustomed to. Mutual aid would be an example.

[wcfpd2601]

Sometime before I switched to my station, someone labeled the cab doors on my Engine; Cab 1, Cab 2, etc. If I ask someone what is in Cab 1 they look at me like I am stupid. But if I ask them what is in the Officer side front compartment they tell me. Which reinforced my question when I saw it of "why did they label the compartment doors like that?"

When I put a new FF on the station I tell them they need to become familiar with all the apparatus and where everything is. I hate hearing doors open and slam shut repeatedly on a scene when I or someone else is waiting on a tool.

[wrangler76]

I agree... We should all be familiar with the equipment on our apparatus, quantity and it's location. All similar type apparatus within a department should be set up the same. Maybe we should have all mutual/auto aid companies uniform too, but that's not the case in "my world". I don't really have a problem with unobtrusive exterior labeling of our rolling "toolbox" to facilitate the rapid locating of equipment. I was assigned a task to create an "inventory", apparatus "picture books" along with a "labeling system" for the compartments. Thank you for your input.

[wrangler76]

our rigs come with tags from Door-Tagz.

Thanks for the reply!

[boog8591]

You would think that we should know where the equipment is on our trucks, and I pride myself in knowing this much better than the average firefighter on our company, however.....

I was one of the major designers on our new engine, which is set up different than our old engine. We were on a motor vehicle accident the other day and it took me 3 compartments to figure out where the trauma kit was. Now what makes this even worse is I am the one who decided where the equipment went on the new engine !!

I first tried the rear compartment as that is where it is on the old engine......then I tried the rescue tool compartment.....and finally I remembered that it was in the over-the-wheel compartment stored with the RIT pack.

My opinion.....while I would not support labels all over the outside of a compartment, I would be in-favor of possibly a star-of-life on the compartment with the trauma kit and/or AED so in a pinch you do not have to think to find something that may save someones life.

[chiefengineer11]

PL Custom Body in Manasquan, N.J. and VCI (Horton dealer) in Berlin, N.J. both have excellent graphics departments. They have a lot of stock stuff or will custom make just about anything you would want.

I'm sure that there are lots of other places that do the same thing.

Stay safe out there, everyone goes home!

[jfTL41]

you have to do what works for your dept. NYC operates more than 100 truck companies using four different types for apparatus (95' TL, 75' TL, rearmount aerials, and TDA's) they are in service for eleven years frontline and another 5 or more as spares and reserve rigs. The tools complement is basically the same but response areas differ vastly and companies are free to do what they have to do as far as storing that equipment. Some units label the compt doors, others do not, the only requirement is that the compartment containing the FAST PAK SCBA be labeled.
Same goes for the engine companies (200+) 11-15 generations of rigs in the field... It is not as easy as "know your rigs."
Also as stated above, do you know you mutual aid rigs?

[BlitzfireSolo]

Here's a question for "knowing your compartments" vs. labeling them:

Is it any better to have a firefighter that runs around the rig, reading every label on every door, instead of a firefighter that has to open every un-labeled compartment? In my opinion, neither one is acceptable - if you work off of a rig regularly, you need to know every compartment like the back of your hand.

[wrangler76]

I think we all agree that a good firefighter will know the contents of every compartment on his or her apparatus. If we only had to aquire tools from our own rig or if every rig in the jurisdiction and all mutual aid apparatus were uniform tool location wouldn't be an issue. I wish our rigs were uniform but even our small city will have three different configurations of engines, 4 varying medic units, a quint and a brush rig for two stations staffed to a minimum of 6 personnel. Hmmmmm... which rig am I going to be on next shift? I've been on 4 rigs over the course of a 24 hour shift. If it were only as easy as showing up for work to sit in an assigned seat! I feel set up for failure..... Sorry for the little rant...