Hey everyone! Hope this post finds you all doing well during this summer heat. Summer, I believe, is definitely in full swing!
It’s been really busy at the Fire Department lately. With folks getting back into somewhat ‘normal’ life and adding summer activities on top of that, it only makes sense for us to be busier on shift.
We have a new class of Rookies going through their initial Basic Training right now, so we help out with some of their training at the training center. They are definitely feeling it now, and it’s not even August yet! Once they graduate, they will get assigned to a Shift and Station and begin their career! It should definitely help take some strain off of us by bringing up the shortage in staffing.
Company training within the department or the different shifts happens pretty much all throughout the year, but sunny weather seems to bring us out to train a bit more than the real cold weather. Although, sometimes you want to train when its colder so you’re not just drenching wet when you get done!
I’ve been working a lot of overtime lately. We have had folks retire, folks seeking out other opportunities in other career fields, and some of the younger guys looking for ‘more action’ in the bigger city. For whatever reason, we are drastically short staffed right now, so I’ve been taking advantage of the overtime that’s been tossed my way.
So, you know I’ve talked about how our schedule works here at our Department; we work 3-days on/4-days off. In lay terms, that means we work 3-24/hr shifts (with 24hr off between each shift day), and then we’re off for 4-days. We have 3 shifts; A, B and C shifts. I work on A-shift.
To those who have never worked a schedule like this, it can get VERY confusing!
So, I come to work, lets say, like today actually happens to be my first day of this tour, it’s a Wednesday. We technically start our shift at 0700 (7:00am) and work until 0700 the next morning.
So, I will work Wednesday, Friday and Sunday this tour. Throw some overtime in there, and what you get is….literally, almost LIVING full time at the Fire Station. I’ve actually been here since 0700 YESTERDAY morning. I worked 24hr overtime, on Engine 5, and then left this morning at shift change to come to my own Station 3 to work my normal 24hr shift on Truck 3. I get to go home in the morning, then I will come back to Drive Engine 5 for the second half of the shift for overtime from 1900 (7:00pm) to 0700 on Friday, and back to my Station 3 again for my regular 24hr shift on Friday! Sound like the type of shift work you would enjoy? It’s really not as bad as it sounds, at least when there’s not a lot of overtime happening.
Anyway, my biggest reason for this post is to talk about Shift Change!
Shift change is awesome! It’s kind of like a small fellowship party every morning!
Each person that comes in to start their shift has to find their corresponding Rank for example, the Driver. Then, that Rank (Driver) will give them a report of what happened during their shift. It’s pretty simple actually, but can be critical to the on-coming shift.
As a Driver, when I come in, I get the report from the off-going Driver. He tells me how many calls they made, and maybe the nature of the calls. They also should tell me if there is anything missing or broken on the Truck, anything new happening with the truck, anything significantly new or happening at the station itself, and so on and so forth. Then, the next morning, I do the same for the next on-coming Driver.
So, back to the fellowship part of shift change.
It’s a time when we all basically hang out in the living room and kitchen area to talk and drink our morning coffee (or sports drinks) or whatever they prefer to drink. Most of us drink coffee around here.
We keep up with what’s happening with folks on the rest of the department on their shifts. Even though we are a fairly small department, we still have about 100 people, and you really only see about 30 of them (on your shift), and the guys you relieve each morning, on a regular basis. So, it’s nice to hear about what’s happening in folks lives that we don’t get to see often.
We’re so family oriented at the FD that it is kind of like a mini family reunion every day, lol. Some of the guys workout in the mornings before they get to the station, or they leave and go workout before they go home. So, especially, the younger guys, will be talking about their workouts, or maybe classes they’re taking to work towards promotions. Several of them work side jobs together, so they talk about what’s going on with that. Some talk about what’s happening with their kids and their activities.
Me, I talk about my cows or my horses! Lol, yes, that’s what I usually talk about! And, my hubby too. I have some Grandkids, but they all live so far away, and we don’t get to see them very often. My kids are all grown and gone, I have my animals at the Ranch that are my “kids” now. I’m weird, I know.
If someone is out sick, we can usually find out from SOMEONE, what is going on with them (or their family members) and find out if there’s anything we can do to help out. We’re pretty close knit in that sense. It’s really awesome to see the amount of support just one member of this department can get if something is going on with them or their family! I love that about this career.
To find out more about what it’s like to be a woman working in the Fire Service, sign up with your Email here to follow along on my blog. For young women who are thinking about a career in the Fire Service, maybe I can give you some insight on how it is for me. If you have questions, feel free comment below, or click here to Contact me!
Until next time! Be Safe and Be Blessed!