short or full crews

[jimmy247]

what are your thoughts on departments rolling with a short or a full crew

[tl254truckie]

roll with what u got....the truck doesnt serve ANY purpose sitting in the firehouse...

[Disp45atcher]

ummmm ... and you can't fight the fire if you don't have any manpower on that truck? Unless your like Patchogue and the members go to the scene and only the "Chief Engineer's" respond and drive. Also, don't we have a responsibility to keep our members safe? No manpower could mean increased injuries or worse !!

[salt-of-the-earth]

i agree..... but depending on the specific situation, it would be ok to roll light.... but its always better to have more hands than needed than to have to little hands

[Disp45atcher]

to tell you the truth maybe I'm spoiled because we ALWAYS roll with a full crew. The 1st due engine and truck (to a structure fire) have full crews. Day or night 20+ class A F/F's. So in my opinion, I would not roll without a full crew.

At work I see them roll short lots of times, mostly A/A's. -- I just keep thinking,

"What if..........."

[warthog]

All depends on the time of day. Usually during the day unless it's a true emergency we only get 1 engine out. Of course if it's a working fire or a heavy rescue the members come out of the woodwork to help

I've noticed the busy FD's have the same problem. My department is in the middle with fire alarms.

I'd rather have a full crew, sometimes you have to take what you get

[bfd732]

I agree with most above, but what constitutes a "full crew" driver, officer, + 2,3,4
Also, "what ifs" on an A/A is always possible, but reality proves large qty. are not serious.
That said, if it is serious what is more important waiting for a full crew or getting there with some crew to do size up and determine you need more??? I'd think you need driver/operator plus 3 minimum - put two guys into operation third for help/backup and driver operating. If it's bad on arrival your going to retone or M/A anyway right? I'm just thinking day time runs when most stiffs like me have to work, even so if it's toned as working, the local "working" stiffs tend to show up. I'm just learning, so I'm really asking what's wrong with what I just posted.

[EXCAPTMFDENG7INE221]

every dept i guess has their own view of what a full/short crew would entail. but correct me if i'm wrong, aren't we "supposed" to follow i think its nfpa recommended crew size? but anyways, i think a full crew is a lot better than say a driver and one if they are the only rig out on the road. cause sometimes you might have someone who doesn't tell the chief what the crew consists of, so he thinks you have enough bodies till you get on scene and you don't and render yourself useless until another unit arrives depending on the situation at hand. I would say and this is only my opinion that an acceptable "FULL CREW" would be driver, officer, and 5 in the back. An acceptable "SHORT CREW" would be driver, officer, and at least two or three in the back but this is just my opinion. you can either agree or disagree.

[jimmy247]

Every one has there on opinion all urs seem good, to me a full crew is when there are no seats left in the truck.But thats me. also if you decide to role short you gotta think of the "what ifs" what if you get a second alarm..what if you role up on ur second alarm (working Fire) it prob sounds far fetched but its the fire department any thing can happen

[LIFireEMS]

No seats left? 'Your' truck will never roll. Plus, too many people is not a good idea, need to get the other rigs out. Personally, i like rolling with a driver, officer, 2-3 other Class A's and a probie if i can get one. It is a simple crew, but we can accomplish a lot with those 5-6 people.

[660t]

TO ME IT'S MORE ABOUT TIME. IF AFTER SITTING ON THE RAMP FOR 2-3 MINUTES AND NO ONE ELSE IN SIGHT YOU ROLL WITH WHAT YOU HAVE AND BLOW OUT A SECOND ALARM IF NEED BE.

[Firebird40622]

5 at night
4 in the day
atleast 2 on the bus...

Ya dont got it, ya dont roll...VERY few times have I seen acceptions to this rule in my dept. depending on the type of alarm. However its never really a problem, a solid crew is always available 24/7. and Thanks to Newsdays ::)LiarAlarm ::)we noticed that our response time aint too shabby!

[lindytruck164]

in my department we can respond to the scene, so it happens that the trucks do roll light, but most of the time if it is something goog, as someone put it, everyone comes out of the woodworks. in my company we are pretty good with manpower at all hours, so a lack of manpower aint that bad, but it takes a while for alot of members to respond due to being all over the district and it takes time to repsond, if your department doesnt respond to the scene you should wait a little more for the crew, or otherwise look and see what you got and get on the road. as someone said if you need help there are other brothers and sisters next door that will come and lend a helping hand, that is what we are all thier for, well stay safe everyone................

[QUINT14]

It depends on what the light crew consist of like a driver 1 and probie is pointless. In the case of driver 2 and a probie isnt that all bad. Becasue there gonna need someone to help them out becasue who knows it could be there first fire. In commack our cheifs really want us to roll with full crews or wait to see what we got, and then the cheif will give the ok. Thats my thought on light crews and full crews

[dispatcher69]

in my department most of the time we do have a full crew, but there are alot of times where we ride light. when i was first a probie i thought i was scared shit responding to an alarm without a full crew, but with time and experience i learned to work with a crew full crew or light crew in alot of different situations

[fedfirehazmat]

2in2 out... chauffers and chiefs count... Roll IT!

[CFD208]

As Kentland would say, ....UNDERSTAFFED WITH 3!!! I've said it a few times while rollin light.