What do you hate the most when you start your shift?

Which do you HATE the most when starting your shift?

  • No fuel left in tank

    Votes: 2 3.6%

  • Messy Truck (either pt compartment or cab)

    Votes: 45 80.4%

  • Truck is boxed in the back of garage, requiring you to move other vehicles to pull it out

    Votes: 2 3.6%

  • Truck smells!

    Votes: 7 12.5%
  • Total voters
    56
Rig missing two tires. Guess that's understocked.
 
Getting into a truck and the seat still damp from the sweaty person who was in the truck the shift before you.
 
I hate it most when the truck is missing equipment. Crews should replace what they use. I always get those emergencies right off the bat before I am finished checking the rig.

Of course the cleaner the rig, the better.
 
Buzz said:
Getting into a truck and the seat still damp from the sweaty person who was in the truck the shift before you.
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A ShamWow! will fix that for you.
 
lightsandsirens5 said:
What I absolutly hate is gloves left in the cab. On the floor, under the seat, in the door pocket, you name it...............
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I hate it when people leave crap in the door pockets! It's hella annoying, i've had one person actually leave an OLD BANANA PEEL in the door pocket... I'm like, ew.
 
At the risk of hijacking, I'd like to add "an honest assessment of the vehicle". My personal peeve is when the offgoing crew gives you the thumbs-up and a breezy "everything's good!", but the checkout reveals an empty main O2, no gloves, dirty pt. compartment, low fuel, low oil, messy jump kit, etc. Grrrrr...
 
I always hated a messy truck period (especially when the stretcher is not made and no sheets in the truck!) But what really upset me was when A) the person to switch with me was not there on time or b) my partner is not there on time (people were ALWAYS late where I used to work.) It upset me also when something like D50 was missing entirely (we carried 6 on our trucks no way you had 6 diabetic emergencies in one night...) so it meant the truck wasn't fully checked in a while that or our supply just sucked.
 
I used to hate it when they rearranged everything.

Learned to rapidly assess what had been moved, removed, added, or messed with. Newbies were always stocking up the 2X2's and bandaids no one wanted instead of the 4X4's and good tape, leaving the O2 cylinder "on" but the flow control valve "off" on the "E" tanks, taping ammonia inhalants all over the place, etc. Once the ambulance litter (er, cot) was gone.
You know, now instead of having vehicles I have exam rooms and kits, with the same problems!
 
Besides the dirty trucks, and it not being the way I like it lol. I also hate never having my morning pick me up lol, always seems like you don't get you foldgers with a cig or a dip..then a tiny mess is like a pile of hell lol
 
firemedic7982 said:
None of these bother me near as much as getting a call before I catch the morning smoke, and starbucks.

But. Shift change is 0700, and the first call usually rolls in about 0710, presuming the truck is there when I get there, and not on a call.
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The thing I hate the most is not a first part of the day thing. It's an end of the shift thing. I hate it when a call comes in at 0640 and the new crew is there and standing around and staring at you because THEY don't want to take the call because it's non-emergency and sounds like something crappy. YOU don't want to take the call because your shift ends in 20 minutes (new shift starts at 0645, 15 minutes of overlap) and you have to rush home to get the kids to school or you have to go to school or whatever millions of things you might have to do that day that requires you to get off work on time for once. That's what I hate the most.
 
Ooooh, I thought of another one! Finding nasty "dip cups" in the cab. Cups, soda bottles, whatever was handy. It's disgusting and nasty and makes the finder want to puke. Thankfully, the other crews who share my truck don't dip, but I've seen some really nasty stuff when working extra shifts. It's bad enough when people leave their drinks in the truck, but come on!!!
 
I must be pretty lucky because I've never had to deal with any of these at my service. We have a low call volume, so we always have the time to do it and I work with good enough people that they will actually do it.
 
messy truck, no fuel in tank, truck being boxed in or it smells? that stuff never happens, you need to come up with more realistic scenarios. lol.
 
the trash not being emptied.... I totally understand if they had a busy night (we work 24's) or a late call and didnt get it restocked or refueled, however there is NO reason not to empty your trash OR put a liner back in the can.
 
I can't stand it when the truck is left in a mess, and understocked.
 
firemedic7982 said:
None of these bother me near as much as getting a call before I catch the morning smoke, and starbucks.

But. Shift change is 0700, and the first call usually rolls in about 0710, presuming the truck is there when I get there, and not on a call.
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agreed!

understock sucks as well
 
I hate when find an empty main O2 tank. I hate it enough people lose their jobs when they leave the ambulance that way and I find it.

I also hate finding bloody prints on cabinets or worse in them on supposedly clean supplies.
 
I'll add a vote for understocked and messy. Nothing pisses me off more than finding a thrashed patient compartment when I check out the rig.
 
This past weekend, my truck was not cleaned, inside or out, was not stocked, was not fueled AND boxed in at the back of the bay. Had to move 2 trucks to get it out. And to top it all off, my partner was caught behind a train, so was almost an hour late, so I had to move the other trucks and clean it myself...

The previous crew will be hearing about it...
 
I'm not too thrilled about getting in a truck that's not properly restocked. I don't worry too much about it though; perhaps the previous crew was running hard during their shift and just need to get out of dodge.

But, here are 2 things I can't stand:
1) Having a truck left messy and having to clean it up after grown people.
2) I ESPECIALLY hate discovering that a truck was not properly decontaminated after the previous crew's trauma call. That happened to me once and let's say it never, ever became an issue again.
 
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