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Comment by Jennifer Stewart on March 17, 2009 at 11:54pm

Chief...
I do agree about the chain of command. If you have officers or other members who can't make sure that the SCBA's are cleaned after a call, then maybe you need to re-evaluate them, especially your officers. Are they actually officer corp material. Make sure that you have some SOG's or SOP's in place that state what everyone's responsibilities are after a call. We make sure our equipment is cleaned and ready to go for the next call because you never know when that next call will be.

Comment by Palmyra Chief Donaghey on March 17, 2009 at 11:39pm

Thanks for the input, some of these boys think Im to anal but it is for their safety. Being at the station 24/7 just cannt happen, guess I have some officers that will have to become more anal and meet my specs.

Comment by FETC on March 17, 2009 at 2:15pm

Ahh the grass isn't greener on the other side of the fence, or is it? What we have here is a breakdown in the officer's responsibilities set forth for assurance that the apparatus and equipment are in the "ready" state.

I am sure as with all others here, that upon completion of a fire, there is a station officer who is in charge of the station at that given moment. The station officer has to have the tools and equipment (in his or her head) to motivate and accomplish the tasks of post fire cleanup. If not, then the indians will blow out the door as quick as the trucks back in.

Your department doesn't need a policy unless your officer staff are lacking the respect, direction, assertiveness and the interpersonal dynamics needed to motivate their troops post battle.

Either get new officers or provide the professional officer development needed to get the job done.

Comment by Joe Stoltz on March 17, 2009 at 12:17pm

You might also want to impress upon them the fact that SCBA is designed to keep them alive in IDLH atmospheres, hence should be viewed as vital safety equipment.

SCBA should be carefully cleaned and inspected after every use to make sure it will function properly the next time. If the members don't know how to do this, maybe the next drill night would be a good time to train them.

Comment by John on March 17, 2009 at 10:59am

Chief, lay it on your officers first. That allows 2 things. First, chain of command is kept...Chief, to officer, to firefighter. Second, it allows you to see what kind of officers you have. If they don't get on the firefighters and make the necessary changes, then you know you have an officer who may not be worthy of the responsibility. If you have to take your time to worry about the packs, that means the officers aren't doing their job. As an officer it stinks when the chief gets on me first, but I accepted that when I took the officer test.

Comment by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on March 17, 2009 at 9:34am

Unless you have the free time to do all of the grunt work, then I would suggest that, if you don't have policies that address the readiness for the next call, then I would make some.
To me; dirty equipment isn't a sign that someone's busy; it's a sign that they are lazy and don't give a rat's patoot about how their equipment looks or operates.
Equipment that is properly maintained will last longer.
And as said earlier; no one leaves until all of the work is done. That way, everyone has ownership.
Art

Comment by Paul Montpetit on March 17, 2009 at 8:09am

Our policy is NO-ONE goes home until released by the Chief...And everything is cleaned and put back into service BEFORE anyone goes home...to include airpacks, hoses, and hand tools....By the way....all trucks get washed too....Make a policy and stick to it.......Stay safe....Keep the Faith...Paul

Comment by lutan1 on March 17, 2009 at 4:20am

Every truck MUST be ready to roll ASAP after an incident. That includes all equipment invluding BA cleaned, restowed and ready to roll.

As the Chief, this lies squarely with you to make sure it happens- if it doesn't, then it's ultimately going to be your butt on the line.

Comment by Palmyra Chief Donaghey on March 16, 2009 at 11:55pm

The fellas do clean their masks fairly well but I think the problem occurs when bottles are swapped out. They arent careful enough with the regulators.

Comment by John Schander on March 16, 2009 at 11:47pm

Idon't have too much of a problem ,we're a small dept and I can pretty much monitor how the trucks are put back into service . As an offficer, I would rather you come to the officers first, and if that doesn't work ,then, get onto everybody, but give your officers a chance to do their job first. I'm an Lt in my dept.

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