Stations or posts?

[AZCEP]

System status management to the nth degree.

Posts do not promote any kind of teamwork between crews when you never see any of your other co-workers. Every agency that I've been at that tried to use it had problems with any kind of continuity between individual crews. If you can't sit and discuss things that have happened there is no willingness to look out for each other. Theses systems tend to be busier, and there is less time at an individual post in between calls, but you have to wonder why someone would aspire to this type of system.

Stations are much preferred. Even when you are not spending much time in them. Occasionally it is nice to know there is someplace where you will not be bothered for a few minutes.

[brentoli]

Get a PDA phone

You can log on to EMTcity with it.

I suggest the Cingular 8525. It treats me well!

[Dustdevil]

Posts do not promote any kind of teamwork between crews when you never see any of your other co-workers. Every agency that I've been at that tried to use it had problems with any kind of continuity between individual crews. If you can't sit and discuss things that have happened there is no willingness to look out for each other.

Can you explain a little more about what you are talking about. I can't quite figure it out.

Even with a fixed station, it's still just you and your partner, so you're not interacting with any other crews there. You interact with other crews more in a mobile system because you probably all meet at the same point to change shifts. In the systems where you are allowed to freely roam within your district (as opposed to this assigned street-corner nonsense), you can meet up with other crews at your borders. And in a pure SSM system, you are constantly interacting with other crews as you switch shifts, districts, and cover each other's territories. Not to mention that you are sent to more areas of the city than in a fixed system, so you interact with more crews and hospital staffs than you would if you were in the same neighbourhood station every shift.

Don't get me wrong. I am not an SSM proponent by any stretch. I'd like to see Jack Stout strung up and slowly tortured. But I have to disagree that SSM isolates you from other crews. In my experience, I was a lot more aquainted with other crews in a big city SSM system than in a big city fixed station system.

[AZCEP]

In the two SSM systems I've worked (Las Vegas and Albuquerque), you were posted with your partner, and rarely saw another crew. The only times this would happen is when you were at a receiving facility or at change of shift.

In the fixed stations, I've always had more than one crew in house. Two to three crews at the station is pretty common, unless on calls.

[Ridryder 911]

I agree SSM sitting a truck for 12 hours sucks! Sorry, more and more studies are showing if you can get a nap in the better, the medic will be. The problem with posts is the constant rotation and movement, just to sit and then haul butt from where you came from.

I personally like station houses. All the places I have worked at either had multiple crews or a main HQ, where everyone met and re-stocked or even had dinner (if possible) together. Twenty four shifts, is okay as long as you are not too busy. I much rather work ten/24 hours than four/12 hrs (usually split up) and never have a constant schedule. At least for now, I know what days I will be working five to ten years now!

R/r 911

[Dustdevil]

Hmmm... this is a new concept to me.

I have worked a couple of extremely rural systems where there were multiple units at one station. But I have never worked an urban (or even suburban) system -- fire based or stand-alone -- that had more than one unit in a station. That doesn't even make much sense, strategically speaking, except maybe in the centre of a very busy, urban system. :?

[mrsmall]

Can you explain a little more about what you are talking about. I can't quite figure it out.

Even with a fixed station, it's still just you and your partner, so you're not interacting with any other crews there. You interact with other crews more in a mobile system because you probably all meet at the same point to change shifts. In the systems where you are allowed to freely roam within your district (as opposed to this assigned street-corner nonsense), you can meet up with other crews at your borders. And in a pure SSM system, you are constantly interacting with other crews as you switch shifts, districts, and cover each other's territories. Not to mention that you are sent to more areas of the city than in a fixed system, so you interact with more crews and hospital staffs than you would if you were in the same neighbourhood station every shift.

Don't get me wrong. I am not an SSM proponent by any stretch. I'd like to see Jack Stout strung up and slowly tortured. But I have to disagree that SSM isolates you from other crews. In my experience, I was a lot more aquainted with other crews in a big city SSM system than in a big city fixed station system.

with our system the shift changes are all day and all night, so you really don't see any other crews, the only time you may meet up with someone is at the ED

[p3medic]

We run out of fixed stations, most of the BLS trucks run out of thier own stations or share a station with an ALS truck. We also have two larger stations that house mostly spare trucks, both ALS and BLS, but are not someplace someone is generally assigned. My station is just my truck, I think we are the only ALS truck without a BLS truck assigned to the station. Stations vary in size and quality, ours houses our truck, has locker space for the 9 of us assigned there, larger lockers/shelves for spare equip, bathroom with shower, living area with 3 couches, table with 4 chairs, stove, sink, cable tv and internet. A/C, heat etc...None of our units share space with FD, however several share space with PD stations. (A2/P2, A3, A6, A11, A13,) others are on hospital properties, but not hospital based (A5/P5, A16/P16, P3) one at the airport (A7), and the rest at their own facilities. We can drive around our districts as we like, or sit in quarters. When things get busy, we can end up anywhere. I could be at a hospital on the opposite side of the city, clear up and then get a call around the corner...not my district, but the closest unit. Somedays the only time I see the station is shift change, others I spend most of my time there, depends.

[JPINFV]

I believe it.

Why wouldn't I? :?

Bu dun da disssh

[fallout]

I worked for roughly a year in a system that required posting. It wasn't so bad when you only had to be within a few miles of your post, leaving open the option of hitting the local convience store, restaraunt, grocery store, etc. The operations manager, who is incidentally out of a job now, decided to make the policy you had to physically be at your post and went around looking to see if you were there. Then, some genius made some of our post locations in the middle of the friday night gangland's fight area and there was a revolt among the field crews, with many of them leaving over that and other issues.

I guess I don't really see the point of posting, it may make me closer to one call, but further from another. I do support the idea of having multiple stations set up, that aren't always manned and that have crews placed in them when the call volume in a given area starts increasing.