A Day at Station 101
Worthington Fire & EMS provides fire protection and EMS services for our
community at all times - 24 hours a day / 365 days a year. To accomplish this
our Department, like others in the area, runs a 3 platoon system This means we
have 3 separate shifts that constantly rotate to provide around-the-clock
coverage. Each shift, or platoon, works one 24 hours shift, followed by 48
hrs. off duty. Shifts begin early each morning with a "roll call" where the
off-going crew passes along information about equipment, streets, buildings,
etc. to the on-coming shift.
After roll call members first spend time checking all response apparatus and
equipment for readiness. Although trucks are checked, cleaned, restocked, etc.
after each run, these morning checks are very thorough and include excercising
and testing equipment that may not have been used during the previous shift.
Equipment checks are done using a detailed inventory of each piece of apparatus.
After this members spend time cleaning and maintaining the station which is
their living area for the coming day and night. One member is assigned to cook
lunch and supper for the firefighters. The "cook" collects money from those
who are going to eat then takes his crew to the store to buy groceries. The
crew goes with the cook so that they are still
available to respond to emergencies while grocery shopping.
After lunch training sessions are typically planned. These vary from day to day but cover a tremendous variety of topics focused on keeping skills and knowledge sharp for emergency responses. Training sessions may be fire, rescue or EMS oriented. These daily sessions typically last 1-2 hours. Afterwords many members work on individual projects that support Division programs such as CPR, ordering supplies, station repairs, etc. Many members also participate in voluntary physical training. Our basement is used as a work-out facility and has strength and cardio training equipment.
As members are here for 24 hours, they may sleep after 2200 hrs if there is no run activity. Each member has a dorm room that is shared with 2 members from the other shifts (3 persons share a room). Crews awake 30 mins. prior to morning roll call then the cycle begins again.
Our station's minimum manning is presently 11. This allows us to staff 3 response vehicles at any given moment. If all on-duty members are tied up on a response or responses, additional calls for assistance will be handled by neighboring departments. Our station houses additional equipment, some of which are back-up or reserve pieces. However, we can only dispatch 3 pieces of equipment at one time with our normal staffing.
Response Assignments
EMS - Different emergencies calls have different equipment "assignments" . The bulk of our responses are EMS related. If our Fire Alarm Office (who takes the call) determines it is not life-threatening, M101 is dispatched alone. These runs include minor injuries, falls, minor illness, etc. For life-threatening emergencies M101 is dispatched with ER101 for additional manpower. This provides enough persons on the scene to stabilize a patient and provide care during transportation. Such runs include heart attacks, breathing difficulties, strokes, traumas, etc. The single crew left back on station at this time is available should a second call be received. If the second call is life-threatening a support Engine is requested from a neighboring Department. This occurs several times weekly.
FIRE - Equipment assigned to fire responses varies based once again on the call. Fires in single family residences are assigned 2 Engines, one Ladder, a Rescue, a Medic and 2 Batallion Chiefs. As you can see, even on these small responses we require assistance from neighboring Departments. For larger commercial structures an additional Engine, Ladder and Chief are assigned. Once again, we will rely on help from our neighbors.
Staffing
Receiving help from neighboring communities is the rule rather than the exception across the country. Such arrangements allow each department to provide necessary services to their communities in a cost effective manner for obvious reasons. The down side is that there are times each week when crews are not available for the usual 3-4 minute response. Additionally, even small scale incidents do not receive a full-complement of resources until neighboring departments arrive several minutes into an incident. This sometimes hinders strategic objectives during fast moving fires and emergencies.
Unfortunately there is a growing trend nationally to reduce costs by staffing apparatus with fewer firefighters. Such decisions reduce crew effectiveness and can have dire consequences in emergency situations. Short-handed crews must work harder and are still less effective. They simply need more time to complete critical tasks - time that's not available. Many experts point to reduced staffing as a primary factor contributing to our country's high firefighter mortality - approximately 100 perish annually. Firefighters will do what needs to be done and punish themselves until the job is accomplished. Typically around 45% of annual firefighter deaths are due to heart attacks, some in very young members. Researchers are finding such deaths are due to the tremendous physical exertion, dehydration and heat stress associated with firefighting. Additional staffing could help reduce many of these deaths.