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Permalink Reply by ashfire on March 13, 2012 at 2:17pm

I was wondering how this would work for a dept where you have more than one unit in a station and a crew has to move from one unit to the other during calls. This could be a four to six man career crew in a station.

We have a combo county dept where you could have  career or volunteer crews in the station. If  we have enough crew, people can be assigned to a unit so people can store their bags on what they are riding. If the crew is low then the bags may have to kept with the crews gear and if a call comes in then the personnel have to don gear and then grab their bag and climb on the unit and then store it out of the way. Would this be time consuming?

Take my station. We have two pumpers but only use one at a time, a ladder truck, ambulance, and a brush unit. Other stations are the same way with engines, heavy squads, tankers, water rescue units, and other special units.  

Only units that have assigned crews would be paramedic units or all career basic ambulance unit.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Kuryla on March 13, 2012 at 2:26pm

Most of the guys on my department carry some small personal bag - it goes in their locker after shift, not stored on rig.  Been a chief for too many years and still have mine in the car.  It has towel, dry socks, gloves a sweat shirt, few other things I can't remember - most important is the roll of toilet paper.  Tell me some of you wouldn't have paid 30 bucks for a roll sometime in your career when you are far from a safe place to sit.

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Permalink Reply by 55 TRUCK on March 13, 2012 at 5:41pm

 Bottle Gatorade, bag trail mix, pack of M&Ms, zippo & 2 hand rolled cigars.

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Permalink Reply by Patti Walz on March 13, 2012 at 5:49pm

Dry socks, small tools, couple bottles of water, tshirt, nuts.  I keep it with my gear and toss it on whatever rig I am rolling with. 

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Permalink Reply by Dino1410 on March 13, 2012 at 10:06pm

I have a small rope bag with these search items. Sorry I do not have a shot with the stuff in the bag.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Pressnell on March 13, 2012 at 11:04pm

I am a volunteer, so my turnout bag stays in the trunk of my car. I have a Maxpedition Jumbo Versipack LEO (sounds big, but it isn't) that I carry my medical and MVA gear in so I don't have to go to my trunk to retrieve from my turnout bag gloves, traffic vest, etc., every time I respond to a medical call or wreck. I should put some snacks and water in it. Had to direct traffic for 9 hours at a wreck a couple of weeks ago and I got hungry.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Riley on March 14, 2012 at 12:37am

yes I carry an extra bag full of extra specialty gear such as ear plugs and gloves and all important water bottles for them long days as we encounter when we are out and we get back to back calls. Its hot as hell in arizona and when we get fire calls its extra hot so we need extra water instead of getting heat exhaustion we always carry spare drinking water for the crew and for the other crews working along side. I have had Sheriff's officer's ask me for water when out on calls. The summer heat in arizona is very dangerous if not thought of ahead of time. And then I also carry some smalls toys in my bag for the children I encounter during my calls and stickers for them as well. 

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Permalink Reply by Shareef Abdu Nur on March 18, 2012 at 6:21am

I agree and we carry the same type of stuff in our bags.

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Permalink Reply by cory scott colley on March 18, 2012 at 1:42pm

theres the only thing i carry besides my turnout is plyers wire cutters a utility knife and a multiscrew driver

and a extra pair of strucure glove other that that it can wait til i get back to the houise

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Permalink Reply by Don Catenacci on March 18, 2012 at 7:39pm

The problem is cory, waiting until you get back to the house is fantastic, IF you ALWAYS go back to quarters and don't catch a second hitch on the way back.  My career FD at times runs back to back to back calls and when it is sub zero the last thing you want to do is go from a structure fire where your shirt is soaking wet to an MVA or a medical call without changing your shirt.  Or catching another fire with a wet hood or soaking wet gloves.

 

I wouldn't presume to tell you what to carry, but here in Wisconsin an extra pair of sox, a dry t-shirt and extra gloves and hoods are not a luxury, they are a necessity.

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Permalink Reply by capcityff on March 19, 2012 at 10:00am

I echo what Don said.  Remember all fire departments are different.  My department runs about 180,000 runs each year.  My engine company alone runs over 5000 which means we have days with 20+ runs.  Sometimes we leave in the morning and don't make it back until dinner.

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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on March 20, 2012 at 12:59pm

Extra pair of gloves, socks, tee shirt, hood, goggles (which I took off of my bucket), 4-1 screwdriver/torque driver, a slim jim pry bar, a very worn sawzall blade (great for unlocking old style sash windows) spare chocks (they walk), spare flashlight and a few other odds and ends that aren't in the BRT but I know come in handy every now and then.  As for water, we always have a case of bottled water on every rig.  It's also a great place to leave my cellphone.  My biggest issue is where to leave my coffee (no damn cup holders).

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