Personal Hydration

[mikie333]

This may sound a little bizarre, but here goes.

Often time during 'intense' situations, especially in hot weather, I can get rather thirsty.

And a lot of time there isn't really a rehab (so no water)

Does anyone using their own (ie a water bottle somewhere) or even a CamelBak under their turnout jacket?

Thanks!

[firehick]

I wouldn't necessarily carry a water bottle or cameback in/under my gear but maybe tossing one onto your assigned rig/seat or with hanging with your gear if your assignment changes etc. so when you're by the rig you can grab a drink. Just my .02

[mpullen32]

Here is what we do, my current company carries the orange coolers full on water and ice on the engines during hot weather. The water is replaced every other day. On our new rescue we spec'd out a refrigerator that has the capacity to hold around 50 bottles of water. Best advice I would give you is to throw a orange cooler on the rig and replaced the water daily.

[dsadberry]

I generally keep a gallon jug or somethin to that effect at my seat on the rig... So as was suggested, I can grab some when I am by the rig. I also drink nothing but water when on shift so I stay relatively hydrated as it is... Also most of our units, the guys keep a ton of bottled water in one of the compartments, or one of the orange coolers and change out water...

[eaglesrule1024]

This may sound a little bizarre, but here goes.

Often time during 'intense' situations, especially in hot weather, I can get rather thirsty.

And a lot of time there isn't really a rehab (so no water)

Does anyone using their own (ie a water bottle somewhere) or even a CamelBak under their turnout jacket?

Thanks!

I' am definitely on board with getting a big orange water coolers full of water you should start hydrating your self better. Being thirsty especially in hot weather is usually a sign of dehydration. A friend of mine that is a Nurse tells me ALL the time especially when the weather gets hot that you should be drinking the big water bottles to hydrate yourself properly and don't drink it all at once because it will do nothing and will not hydrate your body.

Rob

[PAZ711]

We carry cases of bottled water on all our rigs, so we're covered there. Regarding wearing a Camelback under your TOG, it's just too much bulk. Also, it's going to screw up the fit of your SCBA. Keep it smoke free for your bike rides!

[JHR1985]

I just drink beer while on duty. So far its done me no wrong

[tcfdDan]

The biggest thing is to stay hydrated all the time. Do not save drinking all that water for after you have come out of the structure fire and are huffing and puffing, because by then it's too late.

[backsteprescue123]

We have the igloos on our engines, truck, and safety officers vehicle. We have at least 1 pack of cups in the cab or EMS compartment of these trucks as well.

These are lifesavers.


In cold weather, our local resturaunts are great and usually donate coffee and hot chocolate and food to us. Even if its in the middle of the night. (THANK GOD Tim Hortons is open 24/7)

[eaglesrule1024]

In cold weather, our local resturaunts are great and usually donate coffee and hot chocolate and food to us. Even if its in the middle of the night. (THANK GOD Tim Hortons is open 24/7)

Man you just had to bring up 24/7 places didn't you ? That's the biggest thing I miss from going the city to semi-rural I guess since it is sort of changing. I used to be able to get a snack or sandwich at 3am now everything shuts down at 9pm 10 if your lucky

rob

[BLSboy]

This may sound a little bizarre, but here goes.

Often time during 'intense' situations, especially in hot weather, I can get rather thirsty.

And a lot of time there isn't really a rehab (so no water)

Does anyone using their own (ie a water bottle somewhere) or even a CamelBak under their turnout jacket?

Thanks!

Hold up, hold up. Y'all have no rehab?
I'm not normally a safety sallie, but damn boy, that is one thing you NEED to have. Thats where the Explorers belong, and they should be supervised by a minimum of an EMT. And that EMT needs to have the authority to yank anyone off the line if their vitals dictate so. When I worked EMS I did it, and I have seen it done when I was a fireman.
Proper conditioning, and HYDRATION are essential for staying healthy, for both the incident, and your overall health.

[volfirie]

At least a box of bottled water on each vehicle. A large incident? More bottles brought up from reserve. But. Water isn't everything - if you drink too much water you'll flush the salts out of your body and be unable to absorb what water you DO drink. Hydration is about water and salt replenishment - one without the other is no good. So have bottles of some sort of 'sports' drink as well.

We've been all through the different phases of water only, sports drinks only, water and sports drinks and nothing with caffeine... And you know what one outcome was for the no caffeine phase? All of us that drink Coke, or coffee, or tea started getting headaches from withdrawal! So now we also make sure we have at least a limited caffeine intake - not too much though. Most of this applies to wildfire situations, but is still applicable to structural work.

[mhenrich]

All of our engines carry atleast 10 bottles of water with a case at the station to restock it whenever one is taken. All our aid cars and rescues have atleast a case of water. Also most people have a water bottle or bottle of gatorade that they throw in the engine when they are on shift.

[backsteprescue123]

At a fire this past thursday, I was the first person to set up rehab. Well actually cause I was stretching a line to the back of the house, where the crews were going in when a guy came down the back stairs and didnt look good.

But this was just a little into the incident and the medic unit we called for rehab was still enroute.

[Drjmilus]

The post above that mentioned the RN is right. Drinking 8 bottles of water a day the day before and the days that you are on duty is important. Waiting until you are thirsty is too late...

Dr. J

[doughesson]

I've worked a couple meth labs fires on what turned out to be the hottest days in Paducah in 20+ years.If it's hot enough that the reporterette on scene is wearing shorts and taking her blazer off between camera shots to stay cool(and heat up the younger department members to get info she can't get otherwise) and shows she wearing a tube top underneath,it's effing hot.
Rehab is not just for when the call takes hours and hours.Firefighting is hot enough even in winter that crews need hydration and rest between stints on a line.
My department still keeps a 5 gallon cooler filled with Gatorade mix and water in each engine.Yes,it gets changed weekly during Sunday detail if we haven't had many calls during the week.
People who get to the station after the initial response has left are told to load up on extra water bottles from the fridge in the bay and bring them as well as any equipment not on scene.
Rehab math:1 gallon of water or sports drink(actually better for this purpose)per FF for 4 5 person companies responding equals 8 5 gallon coolers required.
While cookies or cheese crackers are good for quick energy,stay away from caffeinated drinks like sodas and coffee as much as possible.
As to afterwards,most of the people I worked with on my old department tucked a $10 or $20 in their pocket so if we stopped to refuel in rigs on the way home,we could go into the store and get something to eat.A lot of times,the Chief would call for pizzas to be delivered for when we finished rehabbing the rigs.
This caused some laughs when one officer's wife went to a steak house because he'd missed supper so we joked that the officers were getting "Outback" and the troops were getting "Domino's"again.

[backsteprescue123]

We were also fortunate enough to have the chief order pizza for us when we were done getting the trucks back in service at the station.

[clark918]

We have a cooler with bottled water on the rig.

There's also this club called the Milwaukee Fire Bell staffed with volunteer fire buffs. The Fire Bell comes to all box alarms and higher in Milwaukee County with water during hot weather and coffee/hot chocolate during cold weather. Then it has a few snacks as well. I know Racine, right below Milwaukee County, has a Fire Bell Club as well.

[mdcook]

I am a safety officer and hydration along with rehab is some thing I can not stress enough. It doesn't matter what time of year it is, you still sweat under your gear. You can loose as much water in the winter has the summer, you just don't notice it as much until you try to peel your coat off and the sweat has it stuck to you. If you don't have some short of SOG/SOP for rehab, you are just asking for some one to go down. Remember, heart attacks is the leading cause of LODD and heat stress sure contributes to it.
In my department, we have a refrigerator on board or rescue that is always stocked with bottled water. We also carry extra cases on board.
Our rehab is run by the local EMS agency. They do a very good job and we have worked with them to establish SOG's for rehab. We do have an auxilary that does a great job of providing nutritional support, either at the scene, at our station, or both. We are lucky enough to have a chain grocery store in our district and a chain conveniance store that are both open 24/7, but man I would love to have a Tim Horton's here (just my personal opinion ).

[kevbuffalo]

I actually carry a 20oz bottle in my gear for a two fold reason, when the fire is out and im we are overhalling you can grab a quick swig without having to run out to the truck, and the second reason comes about on those 3-4am fires when there is not much time to take a leak before you run out of the house. port-a-potty at hand is a godsend sometimes. no #2's though thats too much.