It is hands down the worst non-DoD schedule I have yet to hear someone explain what could be worse. And we'll take that as an average department don't get me wrong. I get it. If you run over 4 or 5k calls a year as a company the 48/96 would be hell. But at an average department where people are on board top to bottom with 48/96s they are better than 24/48s.
Also there will be mfs in here saying "well we work (insert 4 shift/platoons schedule here) and we love it." Like yea no shit. Everyone loves 4 shift schedules. But the vast majority of the country doesn't have them and will never have them.
Look how many of these dillies have posted “well I have 4 shifts” since you wrote this. Exceedingly rare for an agency to get a fourth shift approved these days.
I ain't gonna lie I scrolled down like 2 comments and saw one dude and made a ninja edit. But it needed to be said. Normally I say it anyway when shift schedules come up on here because the mfs working for unicorn departments opinions might as well be invalidated. It adds almost no value to the conversation when people are discussing what is the best 3 shift schedule for some dude from the NE to tell us that the 24/72 schedule is the best schedule. Or how much he loves his schedule and the amount of free time he has. Don't get me wrong if I could work a 4 shift schedule I would. I've tried to find a way to push for it locally and it's literally impossible.
Cal Fire which includes municipal contracts. Specifically Riverside County. 97 stations and 150k calls a year and we run a 72/96. It is blatantly dangerous.
Yea I guess the state can do whatever they want. That is truly terrible but something about that doesn't add up. That's neither a 3 shift schedule nor a 4 shift schedule.
It is blatantly dangerous but California is also an extremely high paying state for firefighting. At least you getting your money with that schedule. 90% of these stuck in the 80s fire departments still running 24/48s are still paying guys like 38k a year lol.
Its a 2 shift schedule. That's why it doesn't make any sense. We work 12 days a month instead of 10 like everyone else. Our "C" shift splits their 3 days across 3 different stations working as a relief crew. For the amount of hours we end up working we don't make good money like a lot of other california fire departments.
I believe population wise 4 shifts is actually most popular. North East and the West Coast rock it and get probably almost half of America by capita.
Nitpicking for sure but Detroit, Boston, LA, San Diego, New York, and keep adding cities and you get past one hundred million pretty quick.
I feel that. I guess I could have been more specific. But you also never hear anyone complain on reddit about 4 shift schedules. Like if OP could go to a department working one he probably would have already done that.
Absolutely and the South and the flyover country are fucking ass and they screw over employees and have no labor rights but I’m preaching to the choir, I’m sure.
I just once did 24/72, then got to Pennsylvania and did same, then went to the South and literally could not believe when they told me they do 24/48.
That’s when my firefighting ended. I won’t do that.
I wish those people had the chance to also not submit to that.
Can you not swap with a coworker if you need a full weekend off? At the end of the day we work like 8 days a month. Swap to a normal job and get stuck with mandatory OT you’ll have the same complaint only worse. We had a guy leave for a steel mill job and ran back with a new outlook within 2 months.
You get a full weekend every 3 weeks on a 24/48. I always thought it was a positive thing that I get at least one weekend day off each week, I worked every weekend at my last job
Saying 8 days a month does you a disservice. That's 192 hours a month which is a decent amount more than the average person. That's ignoring the fact that most places people are working OT on top of that.
Flip it around. A 40hr week gives you 2 days off a week. Or 8 days off a month. Would you rather work 2 days a week and have 5 days off, plus if you’re like me you get a Kelly week every 3 weeks where I have 5 days off in a row in other words I work 2 days out of 11 in that stretch. Is that a disservice?
True I agree with that statement, but you're still working more hours. Which you throw an OT day or two a month in and it starts to add up way more than just saying 8 days a month. Especially if it's a busy house and you don't sleep much.
It's what you and your family make of it. I've got 4 kids and a wife. I used to work a flooring job 3-5 days a week. Now that I'm with a FD doing 24/48 I've asked for feedback from my family. Yeah, every 3rd day sucks that I'm gone but the 2 days I'm off I've changed and I make the best of those 2 days. Quality time has improved dramatically. My wife and I both agree our lives have gotten better since I started this job.
To anyone saying that 4 shift schedules are pointless to discuss - listen a lot of shit sucked about this job in the Northeast 100 years ago. People organized any way they could and they fucking fought for better.
Y'all may not get everything you should during your careers and you'll always be playing defense for everything you claw out of them but if the politicians you vote for aren't fucking helping you then ask yourself why you're voting for them.
In the career academy for MA right now. Half my class was hired outside of civil service. Keep your options open bud, look at non civil service departments too if you can.
Yeah probably the easiest way to do it is to go to town websites under the employment section and search every town. Towns that I’ve seen with recent hiring notices are Bridgewater, Sharon, Norwell and Kingston but I don’t go looking, usually only if somebody shares it I’ll see it pop up
It depends entirely on how the rest of your family life works.
My wife is a stay at home mom, and we homeschool.
Every minute I'm not at work I'm with my wife and kids. I worked an 8 to 5 for years (with a wife and kids) before this, and the 24/48 beats the absolute pants off of that schedule.
But if your kids go to school, and/or your spouse works, I can see how it would be difficult.
I work 24/48s with no kelly days. Severly under staffed. Ex-girlfriend worked 3-12s on set days.
"There's a reason she's a ex".....yeah, because she was smarter than I am and got the hell away from what was ruining our relationship...my schedule
Geez, that sucks.
I hope it gets better man, we used to get KILLED with mandatory OT and for sure that makes the 24/48 worse. Combine that with twice monthly off duty training and events, and I'd be pretty irritated as well.
Yea my kids go to daycare 3x a week and my wife works a full time job. So it’s good for the kids some days but my wife gets the worst end of it. She doesn’t see me as much.
I’ve worked a 24/48 with a Kelly and it wasn’t bad. My old department went from that to a 24 on/24 off (2x) then 24 on 96 off and people started quitting the job completely or going to neighboring jurisdictions with the same schedule but more pay. I’m currently on a 24/72 and it’s the TITS
My department works a 24/72. Switched about 10 years ago from 3 days tours (9 hour shifts), 3 days off followed by 3 night tours (15 hour shifts). Both are 42 hour average schedules.
No complaints about 24/72s.
I worked 9-5 schedules for years before finally getting hired. We are 24/48 with a Kelly day. My wife and kids love the schedule. With a normal job I'm out the door before kids wake up and home barely in time for dinner. So even though you are home every night you still hardly see your kids. With the 24/48 schedule I'm home 70% of the time. Way more time with family.
Maybe try working with your spouse to establish better routines at home when you're at work.
I worked 9-5 schedules for years before finally getting hired. We are 24/48 with a Kelly day. My wife and kids love the schedule. With a normal job I'm out the door before kids wake up and home barely in time for dinner. So even though you are home every night you still hardly see your kids. With the 24/48 schedule I'm home 70% of the time. Way more time with family.
Maybe try working with your spouse to establish better routines at home when you're at work.
24 on, 24 off, 24 on, 24 off 24 on, 96 off. I enjoy this immensely.
Take a day off on the front or back end and you have 7 days off. Take a swing off and you have 13 days off. This leaves ample time for OT on your 4 day if you want. We have the opportunity for a fair amount of OT. I turn down quite a bit and still average 7K in OT. 24 hrs of OT brings you over 800 for your family's trip fund or their toys.
24/48 is the worst 3 shift schedule on the planet. Why everyone hasn't gone to at least the on, off, on, off, on, 4 days off schedule I don't know. I will never work at a 3 shift department that doesn't include a built in 4 day break at minimum. I know some folks that work a modified 24/48 schedule where you work 24/48 on the week days and 24 on 24 off on the weekends and every 3rd weekend you get a 4 day break so your 4 day break is always on a weekend. That's a more unique schedule but for people who want their long breaks to happen on weekends they love it. Some folks despise that their 4 day breaks fall on mostly week days a lot of the time so that kind of combats that but you get less 4 day breaks. But you can also take 1 day off and get 7 off with that schedule as well so that's sick. Durham works a schedule where you a get a 6 day break I think it is.
Point being 24/48 is stupid. It's an anti recruiting tool IMO. If you want to ever enjoy yourself on off days go work somewhere with built in 4 days or a kelly day.
I worked 9-5 schedules for years before finally getting hired. We are 24/48 with a Kelly day. My wife and kids love the schedule. With a normal job I'm out the door before kids wake up and home barely in time for dinner. So even though you are home every night you still hardly see your kids. With the 24/48 schedule I'm home 70% of the time. Way more time with family.
Maybe try working with your spouse to establish better routines at home when you're at work.
1 on / 1 off / 1 on / 5 off. Best schedule imo, I have 2 kids and have tons of time for family. Easy to trade days around and two vac days gets me 13 days off. Have worked 9-5ish jobs and this is significantly better
I worked 24/48 my whole career. We were able to work it out that my wife worked the days I was home from the station and was off when I was on shift. I was able to spend good quality time with my kids. I went on class trips, play groups, the pool, etc. We were able to take vacations like regular families. I had some tough days when I would get off shift after running all night and having to keep up with the kids but I managed. My kids never went to day care and I didn’t have to work a second job to make ends meet. We didn’t have a lot of extra income, but I got to see my family a lot more.
Most large cities in Canada are running 24/48 into a 24/96. I'd hope that with the success of it here you'd see it be brought in to the US, if it's as good as everyone says it is.
We did 10/14 when I got on and I thought it was good except for that first day off, I was exhausted. Then we went to 24’s (1/2/1/4). I’m much better rested, don’t do full weekends anymore and enjoy more time off. I’m mildly burned out as I start my 24th year with 2 to go and can’t wait to be done.
Try to get a Kelly day once a month to start or even more frequent. We get one every 10th shift so it’s nice to have that 5 days in a row off. Cities by me have them as frequent as every 5th shift. It’s technically an unpaid day so it increases your hourly wage too.
It's a mixed bag. You do have to work weekends and holidays but you also get time off that 9-5 people don't so you can be involved in your child's lives in ways they can't. Volunteering for school events, not having to take off work for doctors appointments things like that.
My schedule absolutely destroyed my last relationship.
I think that there are some women (or men) out there who love their alone time and who really do like this schedule, because they can do whatever they want when we're away, but if your partner isn't this way, it's really, REALLY hard on them. Then the problem gets compounded if we get our ass kicked the night before and come home after 24 or 48 hours after being around people constantly with little or no sleep, and we are a bit worthless for that first day off and need just a little alone time to either nap or just decompress.
There's a really good book out there called, "Fully Involved," which lays out to the partner what life is like in the firehouse and what it's like psychologically for us. It's written by a psychologist who was married to a firefighter and it's very clear and gives good insights. But when things were starting to fall apart in my relationship and I gave her this book, she read it and then gave it back saying, "She basically said that, 'everything sucks.'" It obviously didn't say that but that's how she took it.
So when looking for a partner shop wisely. You're gonna have to find someone who loves their independence and who understands that we deal with some shit that very few people do. This also will be somewhat dependent on if you're in a slow or busy system, as the busy system means that your first day off might not be filled with a super energetic partner who's ready to seize the day when they walk through the doors when they get home from work.
I can agree with this a lot. My wife used to like her own time when it was just me and her and I was in the military, she didn’t mind me being gone all the time. But now that it’s us and 2 kids under 4 she just gets sick of doing the single mom stuff , then I come home after not sleeping all night and I’m either tired/grumpy/useless.
Yeah. I had empathy for my lady's struggles, but at the same time it was really hard because this is what I do for a living, so what can I do? I would get mandatoried and she'd ask me to talk to the union about it. Just couldn't understand. I didn't WANT to get mandatoried, but it happened and I'm trying to have a good attitude about it, but then I'm getting shit on for it when I'm tired AF and well... It's not easy.
I know where you're coming from as the shift I worked for 26 years had to work the big holidays. We worked a 24/48. But as I got some seniority I could start to get those days off on a vacation day bid. Before that we had plenty of Christmas Eve celebrations and Thanksgiving dinners on the day before. Sometimes you have to suck it up.
Someone has to be on duty to respond even if it is a holiday. Maybe you could be someone to trade a holiday shift with you occasionally? Didn't you know the schedule when you applied and got hired? Alternatively I guess you could quit and go to another department or job that has a schedule that works for you and your family.
I just remember when I worked for a large insurance company I was working 8a-8p five days a week and a half day on Saturday. So, it really depends on your subjective perspective. Yeah it can be tough on family but I also feel 10 days a month is still 10 days a month.
You aren’t wrong at all. I’ve been working a modified Berkeley for about 10 years now. When my wife was in school it was great. She was out of class by noon every day so my 4-days we’d spend on road trips almost every time. Now that she works a 9-5 it fucking sucks. I like having days off to take care of house stuff or errands that are hard to do for her but I feel like I miss so much of our life together and it’s literally the only thing I dislike about the job. I wish we could do 12s or 10s like every other healthcare/public safety sector. I’m looking at PA school now because, though I love being a firefighter and I love the rush of the job, nothing beats being there for your family.
Of all the various schedules people post about here, 24/48 has always sounded like the worst.
It is hands down the worst non-DoD schedule I have yet to hear someone explain what could be worse. And we'll take that as an average department don't get me wrong. I get it. If you run over 4 or 5k calls a year as a company the 48/96 would be hell. But at an average department where people are on board top to bottom with 48/96s they are better than 24/48s. Also there will be mfs in here saying "well we work (insert 4 shift/platoons schedule here) and we love it." Like yea no shit. Everyone loves 4 shift schedules. But the vast majority of the country doesn't have them and will never have them.
Look how many of these dillies have posted “well I have 4 shifts” since you wrote this. Exceedingly rare for an agency to get a fourth shift approved these days.
I ain't gonna lie I scrolled down like 2 comments and saw one dude and made a ninja edit. But it needed to be said. Normally I say it anyway when shift schedules come up on here because the mfs working for unicorn departments opinions might as well be invalidated. It adds almost no value to the conversation when people are discussing what is the best 3 shift schedule for some dude from the NE to tell us that the 24/72 schedule is the best schedule. Or how much he loves his schedule and the amount of free time he has. Don't get me wrong if I could work a 4 shift schedule I would. I've tried to find a way to push for it locally and it's literally impossible.
Yup all this.
*Cries in 6 people for 2 stations
In Chicago our ems side was 24/72
How about a 72/96? Pretty awful. Worse than a 24/48 if you ask me lol.
What municipal department is doing that?
Cal Fire which includes municipal contracts. Specifically Riverside County. 97 stations and 150k calls a year and we run a 72/96. It is blatantly dangerous.
Yea I guess the state can do whatever they want. That is truly terrible but something about that doesn't add up. That's neither a 3 shift schedule nor a 4 shift schedule. It is blatantly dangerous but California is also an extremely high paying state for firefighting. At least you getting your money with that schedule. 90% of these stuck in the 80s fire departments still running 24/48s are still paying guys like 38k a year lol.
Its a 2 shift schedule. That's why it doesn't make any sense. We work 12 days a month instead of 10 like everyone else. Our "C" shift splits their 3 days across 3 different stations working as a relief crew. For the amount of hours we end up working we don't make good money like a lot of other california fire departments.
I'm trying to go there, is it rough?
I believe population wise 4 shifts is actually most popular. North East and the West Coast rock it and get probably almost half of America by capita. Nitpicking for sure but Detroit, Boston, LA, San Diego, New York, and keep adding cities and you get past one hundred million pretty quick.
I feel that. I guess I could have been more specific. But you also never hear anyone complain on reddit about 4 shift schedules. Like if OP could go to a department working one he probably would have already done that.
Absolutely and the South and the flyover country are fucking ass and they screw over employees and have no labor rights but I’m preaching to the choir, I’m sure. I just once did 24/72, then got to Pennsylvania and did same, then went to the South and literally could not believe when they told me they do 24/48. That’s when my firefighting ended. I won’t do that. I wish those people had the chance to also not submit to that.
Yeah there's been a push for 48/96 here b but trying to do that at a station that runs 11000 calls between 3 apparatus is not feasible..
I’ll tell you what’s worse. Running 5k+ calls a year on a FD ambulance and working 72-96 :/
The northern VA fire departments: challenge accepted
Not a fan of the 24 on 24 off 24 on 24 off 24 on 96 off?
That’s a horrible schedule. Good way to kill your testosterone levels as a male too
Doesn't sound that bad if you are at a slow station.
Can you not swap with a coworker if you need a full weekend off? At the end of the day we work like 8 days a month. Swap to a normal job and get stuck with mandatory OT you’ll have the same complaint only worse. We had a guy leave for a steel mill job and ran back with a new outlook within 2 months.
You get a full weekend every 3 weeks on a 24/48. I always thought it was a positive thing that I get at least one weekend day off each week, I worked every weekend at my last job
Do you actually get a full weekend if you get off work Saturday morning?
If you count Friday as a weekend day, you get no weekends off.
Why is this down voted?
Saying 8 days a month does you a disservice. That's 192 hours a month which is a decent amount more than the average person. That's ignoring the fact that most places people are working OT on top of that.
Flip it around. A 40hr week gives you 2 days off a week. Or 8 days off a month. Would you rather work 2 days a week and have 5 days off, plus if you’re like me you get a Kelly week every 3 weeks where I have 5 days off in a row in other words I work 2 days out of 11 in that stretch. Is that a disservice?
True I agree with that statement, but you're still working more hours. Which you throw an OT day or two a month in and it starts to add up way more than just saying 8 days a month. Especially if it's a busy house and you don't sleep much.
It's what you and your family make of it. I've got 4 kids and a wife. I used to work a flooring job 3-5 days a week. Now that I'm with a FD doing 24/48 I've asked for feedback from my family. Yeah, every 3rd day sucks that I'm gone but the 2 days I'm off I've changed and I make the best of those 2 days. Quality time has improved dramatically. My wife and I both agree our lives have gotten better since I started this job.
24/48 is rough. You never fully get time to decompress and you’re always coming or going from work
To anyone saying that 4 shift schedules are pointless to discuss - listen a lot of shit sucked about this job in the Northeast 100 years ago. People organized any way they could and they fucking fought for better. Y'all may not get everything you should during your careers and you'll always be playing defense for everything you claw out of them but if the politicians you vote for aren't fucking helping you then ask yourself why you're voting for them.
\^\^\^\^\^\^\^ This guys. The pace of change is too slow, and takes too much work but it's absolutely possible
24 / 48 24 / 96 is [thebomb.com](http://thebomb.com) Everyone including the wife is a fan.
On the list for MA, what town you in?
In the career academy for MA right now. Half my class was hired outside of civil service. Keep your options open bud, look at non civil service departments too if you can.
where do you look for this?
Anything not on this list: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/civil-service-fire-departments Check town websites, Facebook pages or even indeed.com
okay thank you 👍 it's tough using Facebook for this just wondered if i was missing something
Yeah probably the easiest way to do it is to go to town websites under the employment section and search every town. Towns that I’ve seen with recent hiring notices are Bridgewater, Sharon, Norwell and Kingston but I don’t go looking, usually only if somebody shares it I’ll see it pop up
thanks a lot!
No problem keep in mind most of these towns require paramedic
Civil and non civil service depts? Can you explain pls
I was actually looking earlier and I believe Epping NH has that schedule
Is this better than the 24/24/24/120 that a lot of departments run?
That isn’t a bad schedule either especially the 5 off. For me the quick turnaround could be tough. Either way 96 or 120 is a win.
Fuckkkkkkk no. I love that schedule. 5 days off in a row is amazing
It depends entirely on how the rest of your family life works. My wife is a stay at home mom, and we homeschool. Every minute I'm not at work I'm with my wife and kids. I worked an 8 to 5 for years (with a wife and kids) before this, and the 24/48 beats the absolute pants off of that schedule. But if your kids go to school, and/or your spouse works, I can see how it would be difficult.
I work 24/48s with no kelly days. Severly under staffed. Ex-girlfriend worked 3-12s on set days. "There's a reason she's a ex".....yeah, because she was smarter than I am and got the hell away from what was ruining our relationship...my schedule
Is there a lot of mandatory OT in your department due to staffing?
Some, or back to 2 on shift if someone is off. Twice monthly meetings, training, and events are mandatory OT.
Geez, that sucks. I hope it gets better man, we used to get KILLED with mandatory OT and for sure that makes the 24/48 worse. Combine that with twice monthly off duty training and events, and I'd be pretty irritated as well.
Yea my kids go to daycare 3x a week and my wife works a full time job. So it’s good for the kids some days but my wife gets the worst end of it. She doesn’t see me as much.
24/48 is horrible, dude.
24/48 is pretty standard for central FL. It’s better than a 9-5.. I agree the other schedules sound better.
I’ve worked a 24/48 with a Kelly and it wasn’t bad. My old department went from that to a 24 on/24 off (2x) then 24 on 96 off and people started quitting the job completely or going to neighboring jurisdictions with the same schedule but more pay. I’m currently on a 24/72 and it’s the TITS
24/48 is the absolute worst schedule. There are plenty of departments with better schedules.
There's never a perfect work schedule. Period.
Ain’t that the truth. The perfect work schedule is not working lol
48/96 is pretty great. I work a ton of OT so it’s more like a 96/48.
My department works a 24/72. Switched about 10 years ago from 3 days tours (9 hour shifts), 3 days off followed by 3 night tours (15 hour shifts). Both are 42 hour average schedules. No complaints about 24/72s.
24/72 is sweet. We do it a bit differently but there's off-line positions that run that chart and love it
I fucking hate this schedule. But I like it more than a 9-5 in an office.
I worked 9-5 schedules for years before finally getting hired. We are 24/48 with a Kelly day. My wife and kids love the schedule. With a normal job I'm out the door before kids wake up and home barely in time for dinner. So even though you are home every night you still hardly see your kids. With the 24/48 schedule I'm home 70% of the time. Way more time with family. Maybe try working with your spouse to establish better routines at home when you're at work.
I worked 9-5 schedules for years before finally getting hired. We are 24/48 with a Kelly day. My wife and kids love the schedule. With a normal job I'm out the door before kids wake up and home barely in time for dinner. So even though you are home every night you still hardly see your kids. With the 24/48 schedule I'm home 70% of the time. Way more time with family. Maybe try working with your spouse to establish better routines at home when you're at work.
24/48 is rough. Im lateraling to a department that works the Portland and I am stoked. It’s the best of both worlds.
24 on, 24 off, 24 on, 24 off 24 on, 96 off. I enjoy this immensely. Take a day off on the front or back end and you have 7 days off. Take a swing off and you have 13 days off. This leaves ample time for OT on your 4 day if you want. We have the opportunity for a fair amount of OT. I turn down quite a bit and still average 7K in OT. 24 hrs of OT brings you over 800 for your family's trip fund or their toys.
24/48 is the worst 3 shift schedule on the planet. Why everyone hasn't gone to at least the on, off, on, off, on, 4 days off schedule I don't know. I will never work at a 3 shift department that doesn't include a built in 4 day break at minimum. I know some folks that work a modified 24/48 schedule where you work 24/48 on the week days and 24 on 24 off on the weekends and every 3rd weekend you get a 4 day break so your 4 day break is always on a weekend. That's a more unique schedule but for people who want their long breaks to happen on weekends they love it. Some folks despise that their 4 day breaks fall on mostly week days a lot of the time so that kind of combats that but you get less 4 day breaks. But you can also take 1 day off and get 7 off with that schedule as well so that's sick. Durham works a schedule where you a get a 6 day break I think it is. Point being 24/48 is stupid. It's an anti recruiting tool IMO. If you want to ever enjoy yourself on off days go work somewhere with built in 4 days or a kelly day.
Curious what you think of 48/48/8 the department I’m applying for runs this schedule.
Do you mean the 48/48/4/8 schedule that DoD runs? That blows dick lol.
Not sure what the Dod runs, but essentially it’s 48 on 48off, 48 on 48 off, 48 on 192off.
Be glad you’re not on a 24 on/24 off/24 on/24 off/24 on/96 off schedule
It’s funny that the comment above this one is a dude with this schedule saying he “enjoys it immensely” lol
Truly wild, I’ve never met anyone in my neighboring jurisdictions with that schedule that enjoys it
That schedule is infinitely better than 24/48.
You think a 24 hrs off between shifts is a better schedule? Alright
I worked 9-5 schedules for years before finally getting hired. We are 24/48 with a Kelly day. My wife and kids love the schedule. With a normal job I'm out the door before kids wake up and home barely in time for dinner. So even though you are home every night you still hardly see your kids. With the 24/48 schedule I'm home 70% of the time. Way more time with family. Maybe try working with your spouse to establish better routines at home when you're at work.
24/72 is where it's at.
24/72 best
I’d rather work 3 12s a week. Some departments are switching their EMS crews to this.
1 on / 1 off / 1 on / 5 off. Best schedule imo, I have 2 kids and have tons of time for family. Easy to trade days around and two vac days gets me 13 days off. Have worked 9-5ish jobs and this is significantly better
I worked 24/48 my whole career. We were able to work it out that my wife worked the days I was home from the station and was off when I was on shift. I was able to spend good quality time with my kids. I went on class trips, play groups, the pool, etc. We were able to take vacations like regular families. I had some tough days when I would get off shift after running all night and having to keep up with the kids but I managed. My kids never went to day care and I didn’t have to work a second job to make ends meet. We didn’t have a lot of extra income, but I got to see my family a lot more.
Most large cities in Canada are running 24/48 into a 24/96. I'd hope that with the success of it here you'd see it be brought in to the US, if it's as good as everyone says it is.
In Canada it’s mostly 24/48 but then a break of 5 days off and another of 7 days off each month. 4 shift schedule
We did 10/14 when I got on and I thought it was good except for that first day off, I was exhausted. Then we went to 24’s (1/2/1/4). I’m much better rested, don’t do full weekends anymore and enjoy more time off. I’m mildly burned out as I start my 24th year with 2 to go and can’t wait to be done.
Try to get a Kelly day once a month to start or even more frequent. We get one every 10th shift so it’s nice to have that 5 days in a row off. Cities by me have them as frequent as every 5th shift. It’s technically an unpaid day so it increases your hourly wage too.
It's a mixed bag. You do have to work weekends and holidays but you also get time off that 9-5 people don't so you can be involved in your child's lives in ways they can't. Volunteering for school events, not having to take off work for doctors appointments things like that.
My schedule absolutely destroyed my last relationship. I think that there are some women (or men) out there who love their alone time and who really do like this schedule, because they can do whatever they want when we're away, but if your partner isn't this way, it's really, REALLY hard on them. Then the problem gets compounded if we get our ass kicked the night before and come home after 24 or 48 hours after being around people constantly with little or no sleep, and we are a bit worthless for that first day off and need just a little alone time to either nap or just decompress. There's a really good book out there called, "Fully Involved," which lays out to the partner what life is like in the firehouse and what it's like psychologically for us. It's written by a psychologist who was married to a firefighter and it's very clear and gives good insights. But when things were starting to fall apart in my relationship and I gave her this book, she read it and then gave it back saying, "She basically said that, 'everything sucks.'" It obviously didn't say that but that's how she took it. So when looking for a partner shop wisely. You're gonna have to find someone who loves their independence and who understands that we deal with some shit that very few people do. This also will be somewhat dependent on if you're in a slow or busy system, as the busy system means that your first day off might not be filled with a super energetic partner who's ready to seize the day when they walk through the doors when they get home from work.
I can agree with this a lot. My wife used to like her own time when it was just me and her and I was in the military, she didn’t mind me being gone all the time. But now that it’s us and 2 kids under 4 she just gets sick of doing the single mom stuff , then I come home after not sleeping all night and I’m either tired/grumpy/useless.
Yeah. I had empathy for my lady's struggles, but at the same time it was really hard because this is what I do for a living, so what can I do? I would get mandatoried and she'd ask me to talk to the union about it. Just couldn't understand. I didn't WANT to get mandatoried, but it happened and I'm trying to have a good attitude about it, but then I'm getting shit on for it when I'm tired AF and well... It's not easy.
I know where you're coming from as the shift I worked for 26 years had to work the big holidays. We worked a 24/48. But as I got some seniority I could start to get those days off on a vacation day bid. Before that we had plenty of Christmas Eve celebrations and Thanksgiving dinners on the day before. Sometimes you have to suck it up. Someone has to be on duty to respond even if it is a holiday. Maybe you could be someone to trade a holiday shift with you occasionally? Didn't you know the schedule when you applied and got hired? Alternatively I guess you could quit and go to another department or job that has a schedule that works for you and your family.
I just remember when I worked for a large insurance company I was working 8a-8p five days a week and a half day on Saturday. So, it really depends on your subjective perspective. Yeah it can be tough on family but I also feel 10 days a month is still 10 days a month.
I feel pretty lucky. My dept runs a 24 on, 24 off 24 on. 5 off rotating schedule.
That sounds amazing
24/48 is the worst iteration of the 56 hour workweek, in my opinion. Like you said, never getting a fri-sun off without using leave absolutely sucks.
48/96 is way better.
Pretty sure my local fd is 12 on 12 off, days. Nights are on call vollie
You aren’t wrong at all. I’ve been working a modified Berkeley for about 10 years now. When my wife was in school it was great. She was out of class by noon every day so my 4-days we’d spend on road trips almost every time. Now that she works a 9-5 it fucking sucks. I like having days off to take care of house stuff or errands that are hard to do for her but I feel like I miss so much of our life together and it’s literally the only thing I dislike about the job. I wish we could do 12s or 10s like every other healthcare/public safety sector. I’m looking at PA school now because, though I love being a firefighter and I love the rush of the job, nothing beats being there for your family.
Four on. Four off for us. Two days. Two nights.
They all kinda suck.