Duty crews

[Nicole1995]

I am having a problem at my fire house with covering duty crew shifts on the calendar. We have had the calendar for a long time so it’s not a new idea. The people that tend not to sign up are our firefighter emts and our drivers. Any advice on how to get people interested in doing a duty crew shift. I keep getting the excuses that they can not do shifts due to work. Meanwhile they will respond to fire calls all the time.

 

[DesertMedic66]

I’m assuming it’s a volunteer station? That is one of the issues. Being a volunteer doesn’t pay the bills while working a job you actually get paid for does pay the bills.

By working a duty crew shift I am taking it that means they must be at the fire station for their shift and not at their place of paid employment. It makes more sense on their behalf to be at their paid employment and leave if necessary.

 

[mgr22]

Nicole, are you saying the same people who claim they can't answer a sick call at, say, 10:00 show up for a fire call at 10:30? If so, that's just a silly volunteer thing that you probably can't do much about. Maybe your department needs to consider supplementing with paid staff.

 

[planetmike]

How far in advance are shifts planned out? Does your squad have a minimum time commitment that members are expected to run each month? What is the penalty of not meeting that commitment? Are some shifts more difficult to staff than others (e.g. Saturday nights vs Tuesday evening)?

 

[Nicole1995]

Nicole, are you saying the same people who claim they can't answer a sick call at, say, 10:00 show up for a fire call at 10:30? If so, that's just a silly volunteer thing that you probably can't do much about. Maybe your department needs to consider supplementing with paid staff.

This is pretty close to what seems to be happening at my volunteer house. Thanks for the advice.