A Firefighter’s Day
Perhaps a few of you have wondered just what our firefighters do all day. Some of you probably think that they are sitting around the station watching sports and eating snacks that you bring them. The average Seabrooker might be quite surprised at what the typical day looks like.
First of all, they work 24 hours on and have 48 hours off. The crew arrives at the station a little before 8 am on the day of their shift. The firefighters coming off tell them about any problems or issues that have come up. The first thing that the new crew of 4 has to do when they get there is to check every single piece of equipment on the truck, right down to the smallest detail- which includes starting the truck. It is up to the Officer of the Day to record in the daily log that the check had been completed. This is done at every shift change, which means once each day. That takes over an hour of their time. Then a quick breakfast and on to the rest of the day’s work.
Each day is somewhat different, but certain things need to be done every day, like station cleaning, lawn mowing, etc. They also have to do an hour of PT each day and each station has a weight room to help with that. Firefighting is a strenuous job and the crew has to be in excellent physical condition. Sometimes the truck goes out into the neighborhoods for familiarization training so that the location of streets and buildings is very clear to everyone. They also go into buildings and look at the structure, locate where the shutoff valves are, and make sure that they have an accurate map of the interior. The computers on the trucks carry that information so the crew has it at their fingertips when they respond to an incident. Almost all of the firefighters are in the process of studying, some for promotional exams, some for advanced education in firefighting, and some for their EMT certification. That takes place when they find a little time during the day.
Every Friday the crew that is on the shift at the station must go to Headquarters on Main Road for medical training. Since there are three shifts at each station, this means that everyone goes to Headquarters once every three weeks. All firefighters have advanced medical training and every truck carries at least one EMT so it is important that their skills are kept up to date. They all have basic cardiac and trauma training and experience with AEDs, EpiPen® and NARCAN® which they carry on the truck. All new hires are required to become EMTs and the district provides the training. Since medical calls make up approximately 80% of all calls, this is really important. The fire truck is usually the first on the scene and can get medical help underway until an ambulance arrives. They are also allowed to call for the helicopter when it is deemed by the officer on the scene that it is necessary.
During their prescribed work, they may be interrupted by having “tones dropped,” which is firefighter talk for a call out. These are 911 calls that pertain to that station and the announcement is preceded by a sound indicating a call out for that crew. When that happens, anything they are doing gets stopped and within seconds they are down the stairs, bunker gear is on and they are out of the station in the truck to respond to the emergency. When they return, the incident is logged in the station log book and they get back to the other work for the day.
The Seabrook station also has another responsibility. The St Johns Fire Boat is located at Bohicket Marina and it is under the operation of the station here. If a call goes out for rescue or a fire on a marine craft, those at the station go to the marina and man the boat. There is always one member of the crew at the station certified to operate the fire boat. They can get there quickly and have the boat on the water answering the Coast Guard emergency call.
Everyone always wants to know about the firehouse cooks since they eat three meals at the station each shift. Each crew makes their own meal plan. Most eat dinner together and you often see the crew at Freshfields picking up the food for dinner. There are apparently a few legendary cooks on the fire staff but most of the time, the crew just cooks together. Each station has a fully-equipped kitchen. If they are on a weekend shift, they tend to make a big breakfast. Not infrequently, this meal has to be put on hold because they have a call out. That is not an uncommon experience.
After dinner, the group is allowed downtime. They can watch TV, go to their own bunk room and study or go to bed. Since they often do not get a full night’s sleep and have to be ready within minutes, what they need to put on is at the ready, right by them. Men and women firefighters have separate bunkrooms and bathrooms. In the morning, they are up at 7 am so that they can wash the truck, make a pot of coffee for the incoming shift and pack up to be ready to leave at 8 when the next crew arrives.
The Seabrook station is unusual because it is a two-story station. Most modern stations are built on one level but when our station was rebuilt, it was very clear that the land only allowed another two-story building. It is one of the few stations that actually has a fire pole from the living quarters to the fire truck bay. The crew no longer uses the pole, but goes down the nearby stairs. Each truck will go out with an engineer who drives, two firefighters, and a captain. All are prepared to render aid or fight a fire.
Seabrookers can be very proud of the St Johns Fire Department and our local firefighters.
-Sue Holloman, Staff Writer