For those of you who do not know what goes on at a firehouse each day, it may not be exactly the way you think. It is nothing like a regular 9 to 5 job in an office. Some people I have talked to seem to think we just lay around all day doing nothing until a call comes in.
The job of a firefighter and going to the firehouse each shift can be somewhat the same. Each day starts out with rollcall at 7:58 am where one shift ends and the next begins. The previous day's events are talked about, and any important information is passed on. The daily truck assignments are made and then we start our day.
We start by checking trucks and equipment to be sure everything is in working order, all equipment is where it belongs, trucks are filled with fuel and engines are filled with water. Also, all Medic and EMS equipment is checked and stocked so it is ready for the next emergency.
Once this is done, we all hit the kitchen for coffee, a little breakfast and some conversation with our fellow firefighters. The cook collects the daily money for food and will then take the station car to the grocery. Yes, we buy our own food each day, which we hope we will get to eat at a normal time and when it is fresh or hot.
After this short break, it is on to daily house duties such as taking out garbage, sweeping, mopping, cleaning bathrooms and any household chore that needs to be done. Anything that needs to be done at home is done at the firehouse, our second home.
When these chores are done, our day then moves to specific training that is assigned, any safety programs, building inspections or checking hydrants. We have daily online training sessions, plus refresher courses from time to time which are done at the academy.
Although our shift is twenty-four hours, our business day is over at 4 pm. Does that mean we can close up and go home? Of course not. But we can relax a little, watch TV or workout and do some physical activity to stay in shape. We are free to lay down in bed any time after 8 pm and hopefully get some sleep. All this can sound like a day that is the same from shift to shift.
Now the part that can change everything is our main and most important purpose, which is taking emergency runs. Serving the public by responding to calls, whether they be fire or EMS is our most important job and takes precedence over everything else we do during our 24-hour shift.
This is where the "every day is the same" can quickly change. One thing you find out quick around the firehouse is that the runs that come in can change your day into an unusual and interesting day very fast. You never know when the tone goes off exactly what you are getting into.
Even when a run is dispatched as a particular incident, once you arrive on the scene you may find something completely different. This is the main reason you have to be thinking and preparing yourself for any situation you find once arriving at the scene of the emergency.
Of course, this is what breaks up the day and keeps you on your toes. Being prepared for any situation, even when you are expecting one thing and finding another, makes things interesting.
Training, reading and discussing the runs you take with the other crews are the best ways to be prepared for the unusual part of your day. Obviously, life around the firehouse can seem to be the same from day to day yet can quickly become very different and unusual in the blink of an eye.
One example, we were all asleep around 3:00 am (hoping to sleep all night) when we were suddenly woken by someone frantically pounding on one of our overhead doors. There was a bunch of commotion out back of the station and we ran to see what was going on. A car full of people had pulled up and a guy was yelling that his girlfriend was dying. Now, that changes your day (or night) very quickly. Fortunately, once we evaluated the situation, the girl had overdosed on some heroin, was unconscious but not dying. The situation was easily resolved with a little Narcan, and the boyfriend was greatly relieved. Yet so much for a quiet night of sleep.
Around the firehouse, you never know what your day is going to be like. You go to work thinking it is going to be a normal day but go home the next day with many interesting stories to tell and memories you will never forget. No matter what happened each day, I loved my job and would rather have those type of days than doing any other type of work.
So, every day at the firehouse can be the same, until at any moment something happens and then it isn't.