Training on Sunday's

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Permalink Reply by Web Marshall Jr. on December 10, 2008 at 4:14pm

Training on sunday has a lot of benefits such as less traffic in ceratin areas , better opportunities to train and preplan , open parking lots , great chances to take pictures for scenarios , and spotting apparatus to check acess points or not , utility and overhead obstructions ,or setbacks which will dictate hose stretches . Get fired up and do it . Good luck .
Web Marshall Jr.

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Permalink Reply by Erron Kinney on December 10, 2008 at 5:45pm

Hey Todd,

We not only train on sunday, sunday is usually our day for multi company drill and evolutions. This works well for us not many complaints occasionally when a good football game is on. Sundays are usually slow here and we are able to get a lot done without interruptions.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Landt on December 11, 2008 at 1:44pm

Let me be blunt here. Sundays as a down day are a tradition we should leave alone. I'd love to agree with your motivation that training makes us all better firefighters and we should do it every day. But, I do not. I absolutely believe that we need quality training regularly... I repeat QUALITY, not quantity. I am a very motivated firefighter and I believe in hustling to do my best and the best for my crew, my team. There is a time and a place for hard work. Sunday at the firehouse is not the time or the place. Sunday at the firehouse is a time for crew-bonding. We work at a moderately busy house. What I suggest is less repeated rope-tying and tailboard drills and more multi company evolutions, more live fire training, lots of ladders, lots of SAFETY officer during these evolutions... during the week. Leave Sundays alone.... Please.

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Permalink Reply by Christopher Olsen on December 15, 2008 at 9:48pm

I hear the same thing sometimes. I think sometimes it is in how you approach it. It seems to work best if it is a quick training and done first thing in the morning. It also depends on the personnel. You will always have the people who are generally lazy and just want to come, do the job, collect a check and go home. Get a couple people on board and typically the others will follow. Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Clayton on December 16, 2008 at 10:32am

Our officers usually take it easy on us on Sundays. We have the traditional 'big breakfast' around mid-morning, then the days is usually ours. Last Sunday we had some 'chalk-talk' and lecture training that I had to put on. The guys were more than cooperative and participated without grumbling as this is not a usual Sunday occurance.

I agree Sunday should be a relaxed day, but, if something needs to be done it should be done without complaints. We're still being paid to do a job.

Currently, I'm lucky to be at a house where training is undertaken by everyone willingly, no matter what the day.

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Permalink Reply by Doc B on December 25, 2008 at 12:19am

Sunday is usually;
Crew breakfast,
half training, half taking it easy.
Crew dinner,
Personal time.
Yes, we do need to train, even on Sunday, but we are also a busier department, so we kinda get a break on Sunday.
A great example was during the superbowl, We all watched together, then 2 minutes after the game was over, a page was sent (for training purposes by th Lt.) of CPR in progress in the lobby.
You get the idea...?

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Permalink Reply by John K. Murphy on December 25, 2008 at 6:01pm

When calls stop coming on Sunday then we could "kick back" and relax.

Every day is a training day. It would be nice if we could schedule our calls during "business hours" but our doors are open 24/7/365 and training adds to the level of expertise the public has come to expect. Sunday training is no exception and training could be as simple as visiting your high occupancy structures during their business hours. Show the flag and get out of the station. Laying a line or throwing a ladder may have life saving benefits - to you and your community.

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Permalink Reply by Lou Wilde on January 4, 2009 at 2:31am

The day of the week is irrelevant. Train.

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Permalink Reply by Jay Lowry on January 4, 2009 at 8:49am

There are good reasons to train on Sunday.

1. The brass isn't around allowing some companies to really work with a particular skill without interruption.

2. Streets are open and clear for the most part. This allows for morning drills on apparatus placement, truck company ops and other assorted fun.

3. Fires happen seven days a week. A skill practiced on Sunday morning may save a life Sunday night.

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Permalink Reply by Brenda Tenney on January 4, 2009 at 1:19pm

Jay you are 100 percent right!

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Permalink Reply by David DeStefano on January 4, 2009 at 9:34pm

I think opions on this topic will differ greatly based on the work schedule of the members. We work two 10 hour days and two 14 hour nights. We conduct company drills or multi-unit drills one of our 2 days if the Div. of Training has no formal training scheduled for the other day, we usually drill on our own, or conduct district familiarization. We usually have an informal kitchen table discussion on recent incidents, or potential problems on one of our night tours. As far as Sunday's are concerned, unless we have an opportunity to do something that can't be re-scheduled, like access to an acquired structure, or specialized instructors, or a new mwmber in the company, we don't ordinarily do much training.

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Permalink Reply by Dave Gallagher on January 26, 2009 at 8:56pm

G********; I'm late getting into this but here's my $0.02; We ran a 24/48 and for the one Sunday a month we went out on drill. In our department during the week there tended to be non-firefighting 'duties' that took up much of the day; washing staff cars, doing the floors, etc; so Sunday was an open day. It's not that we didn't have a Mon-Fri training calendar, but many times it was restricted to lecture.

When we went out it was on fair-weather conditions. And, I'll offer that the people I had the fortune of working with were motivated. We would rather do practicals than sit around. This was a great time to head up to the areas of new construction where we could lay lines, throw ladders, with impunity. No one was around, no traffic, the calls were less, and we could run real time drills.

As far as a comment of Sunday was a time for crew bonding, it seemed that my crew bonded when they knew what each other could, and couldn't, do, worked on it, and achieved.

After I retired and went back for medal day, one of these members who I dragged out on Sunday received some tin for making a particularly difficult grab; when I told him how proud of him I was, he told me that all that came into his head was the laddering we did on the "Sunday" drills. Yeah, I think it was worth it.

Be safe,
Dave

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