Last week on the RICES in NEU the Logs, Fin and Plans shops all ran with skeleton crews. (I mean folks without quals) Requests for GSUL, SPUL, FACL and MEDL all went UTF. And that’s just my shop. People were thrown into the deep end and we got lucky, nobody drowned. I heard a lot of talk about CalFire employees going to a 56 hour workweek. What has happened to our department?
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Cant speak for other agency but covid just hit us hard. Lots of folks off either infected or exposures.
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On Wed Night Thur AM there was 128 Outstanding OH requests.
Branch, DIVS, FOBS, EQTR, Medic
The request ran the gambit.
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We wont be able to staff our 3 OES rigs for out of county strike teams until the 11th with our current numbers.
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Oh that’s why we did not go to NM, lol. J/K we are in the same boat AJ see soon.
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I suspect it will be this way all year. A lot of LG folks are so burned out after enduring 2+ years of constant mandatory OT to cover their stations the last thing they want to do is head out on another OT gig. It also makes it hard for Admin to justify to their Boards/Council when they can’t fill their shifts that they will be able to staff engines and/or OH that is requiring more mandatory OT. Additionally many departments are significantly understaffed and in a constant recruitment/academy mode. Add the LG shortages to the significant lack of Federal staffing and we have the makings of a very tough fire year.
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Lots of LG depts are on lockdown right now…especially in SoCal. The fed teams are made up of a lot of LG. I’m on Team 12 and we were supposed to be the on call team this week, but couldn’t due to staffing issues.
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I am seeing a lot of reasons why LG can’t provide bodies but let us start with CF and why didn’t the other Units fill orders?
There’s forced units and UTF units, not a whole lot of volunteer units. Cheers
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Then please refer to my original question
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Ya I hear ya.
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Short and simple answer.
No staffing pattern holding people on duty & no volunteers to accept the resource order’s.
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Hey all, first posting but have been following the site for years. Is there any way to get name requested on “these” incidents for a line medic gig? Might be a dumb question, just trying to get out.
Thanks
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Not a dumb question. I hear ya . . . I’m trying to get out, too, in an overhead position. From my understanding, there is a lot of name requesting but those are usually people who have established themselves within the IMT community (again, only my understanding. I could be wrong).
Just be careful who you might PO while trying to get a name request. One of our FEMPs befriended a MEDL a few years ago and tried doing the “end run” around the chiefs to get out on an incident. Until he got caught.
The departments in our op. area don’t allow name requests because we are heavy with FEMP/FEMTs, so we have a rotation so no one person can try to corner the OT market.
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The LG name request requires a OES form and is a P.I.A. I should know my “punch list of HEQB’s” is 15 deep with LG and 2 deep with CF. Every dept has different requirements, allowances for name requests. Guys I normally request have been denied because of ROTATION rules within the sending LG agency.
Make friends with CF & FS IMT Members. Know the “Team” rotation calendar and NEVER turn down a request when the team is on rotation. Oh yeah, GOOD LUCK
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There is no longer a willingness for a lot of people to go out on overhead assignments when they are forced on duty at their stations. In my Unit there has been no secession planning for the next generation to fill these rolls. FAEs take their JAC elective and that’s it. All of the overhead qualifications I have received I had to actively seek out to get my task book finished.
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Same here. And then once I’m Q’d I’m grounded due to staffing. Even if I want to go. Which I do.
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The current staffing issues with all agencies, Fed, State and LG are at crisis level in CA. This problem has been compounded by the significant demands on employees because of the number and duration of assignments we have seen in the last 10 years. Now when you add pay issues, working hours issues it is no surprise we are in the situation we are in. How many summers do you need to get your ass kicked spending 100 plus days on assignment before you start looking for greener pastures. Yes this is what I signed up for, but the fire environment has changed, and so have the demands of the job. It is not the same job it was 30 years ago, things need to change and we need to adapt because if we don’t, the consequences may be significant for firefighters and the people we protect.
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This a million times over.
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You are exactly right this is not the JOB of 30, 40, and 50 years ago. The pressures are 10 fold what they use to be. And asking a person to be away for over 21 days is tough. But pulling over 40 or more is LUDICROUS. And I’m really tired of us old timer and older timers saying this is what you signed up for. I’m calling BS on that. I sign up to put the damn thing out not watch it burn for two months. These are different times all right and sadly I don’t see an end to the staffing issues. I didn’t like being gone all the time running crew when my boys were young. And I don’t like not seeing my sons because they are running all over the state on fire weeks upon weeks at a time.
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