Firefighter Shift 12/26/15

firefighter shift

Here is my third post about my firefighter shift. The layout will be as my other 2 posts went, I will write about my first day on shift then in an up and coming post I will write about my second day.

If this is your first time to my blog and reading this post then let me give you a little background about what this post is and who I am.

I write these posts because I want my readers to understand what exactly firefighters do while we are at work and what takes up our time. I’ve sad it before but this will be different for every department you go to and as I post more of these you will see how different our day can be even working in the same department.

Throughout the shift I write down the events of the day so I will be able to write them on my blog.

We usually work 48-hour shifts in my department, which is normal for a fire station. This will be the first day of my 48-hour shift. In my station, we have a fire engine and an ambulance with 2 firefighters on each. I was working on the ambulance this shift. Enjoy!

Firefighter Shift on 12/26

 

0715: I arrive at work. I usually arrive around 7 but the roads were a little icy this morning. With over an hour drive from my house to the fire station and the icy roads I left my house a little bit before 6. My shift begins at 8 am and I am usually at work an hour before I start.

0720: I put my gear and turnouts on my rig. I’m working on the ambulance today and I believe I was driving this day. I also get a pass down from the off going crew. A pass down is when the crew that is coming off shift tells the on coming crew what happened on their shift and any important information we should know about.

0740: After getting a short pass down I go into my room and change into my station workout clothes. I also take this time to shave.

0807: I sit down with my crew and we talk about the plan for the day. We like to talk about what needs to be done for the day, even though our plan usually gets interrupted by calls. My captain said that we plan to do some training with the fire engine today and run some scenarios. After were done me and my partner check out the supplies on the ambulance to make sure everything is stocked.

0903: Drink some of my pre-workout and go on the treadmill for a quick run.

0930: After lifting some weights for a little bit, I go take a shower and get dressed for the day. Our policy is to be done working out and dressed for the day by 10 am.

0943: My captain and I talk about some things aa I make some oatmeal for breakfast.

1004: Right after I finish my oatmeal we get a call. This patient had chest pain. It was an older female who was having chest pain that started earlier that morning when she woke up. When we get a patient who has chest pain we take it seriously because it might be a heart attack. Because I’m not a paramedic my partner took the call. We took her to the hospital.

1103: We head back to the station from the hospital. It took an hour because we were on scene with the patient for a while talking with the patient and telling her our concerns with the symptoms she was experiencing. It’s usually busy in town at this time so there was a lot of traffic as well. My partner writes the chart (the written documentation that we write for every medical call) as we head back to our station.

1123: We arrive back to the station and my partner finishes his chart as I help to cook lunch.

1215: It was my turn to make lunch and I made chicken marsala. It was very good if I don’t say so myself but just took a while to cook. After I finished we all sat down and ate while we talked about the call we just went on and how we could have done better.

1247: Finish lunch and clean up.

1304: I decide to do some studying before we go out for our training.

1337: We get another call. It’s a fire alarm. Most fire alarm calls we go on are not a really emergency and usually a false alarm. Though they are usually non-emergent, we go code (lights and sirens) to these calls.

1421: After figuring out what was wrong with the fire alarm we reset the alarm and were canceled from the call. Even though we reset the alarm there was still a problem with their system. We decided to stay and help them fix it.

1445: Arrive back to the station.

1451: My partner and I get some tools we need for the training and head to one of the schools where we train at.

1522: Right before we’re about to start our training for the day we get another call. It’s a Motor vehicle accident. The impact wasn’t that bad and the patients just wanted to get checked out. There were just 2 patients. Both of them did not want to go to the hospital and signed the necessary paperwork. We stay a while before we are released from the scene because of the logistics of the scene and clean up. We help move all the parts of the vehicle off the road then head back to the station.

1636: Arrive back to the station. We couldn’t do any training today so I use this time to do a little studying.

1704: Were heading to the restaurant when a call for an elevator rescue comes out. This situation actually happens more often than you might think. There usually isn’t a medical emergency, were just there to help them get out for the most part. We arrive on the scene and are taken to the broken elevator. My captain helps the patients get out and we make sure there is no medical emergency then head back to the station.

1812: The whole crew decided to go out to eat tonight. We usually go to this restaurant that is caddy corner to our station. They always treat us well and we do the same for them. I remember that we were all really hungry at this time.

1856: As we leave the restaurant, we get another call, a fire alarm. The fire engine crew and my partner and I get dressed quickly into our turnouts and head to the fire alarm. We are cancelled before we arrive so we turn around and head back to the fire station.

1914: Arrive back to the station.

1918: My partner told me that I was going to have to take a test next shift so I decided to study for that test. It was a medical test that focused on pharmacology. I studied drugs till I couldn’t study anymore.

firefighter shift

My pharmacology drugs

2234: Time to go to sleep. I make my bed then brush my teeth and do my walk around the station to make sure every door is locked up, check to make sure coffee grounds are ready for the morning and start the dish washer.

2252: I lay down and prepare to go to sleep. I’m usually on my phone for a couple minutes before I go to sleep.

I’m not sure how long it took me to fall asleep but it wasn’t too long. We ended up getting a call in the middle of the night, but I will talk about that on my next firefighter shift post. Any comments, concerns, thoughts? Let me know below. Sty tuned for my post about what happened our second day. Cheers!

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