Retained MetFS

[Toast]

Youre new to the service, he is just suggesting that you NOT BECOME one of those calls picking idiots. :) (Yes, I just backed up Medevac, strange things are happening)

[PF_]

I've been to everything except 3 this calendar year since becoming BFF1, two I was at school and 1 was a bad MVA about a month after BFF1 and I had school the next morning so didnt go to that one, filtered school. :-P  I want to go to all of them, whatever the reason.

[rescue5271]

Keep the good work up PF,I never pick my calls its only I am never home of late......

[PF_]

IM starting to wonder if people are gonna get annoyed with me and my family (mum and bro also in the brigade) always rocking up to calls and taking places on the truck.  So far I think its only been twice weve had too many but I cant help but wonder if we'll ever get told to goh ome cause have been to too many call outs.

[Toast]

Being a poor student, with a part time job, I've lots of spare time. I've now got a reputation of having no life and living at the station :P

Why should calls be shared around? First trained people to the station should be taking the applaiance out.

[PF_]

I dont have a job so have even more spare time.  :lol:

[rescue5271]

PF,couple of job's going in the paid staff in CFS...apply...

[PF_]

Still at school mate. :|

[medevac]

How did this come up,
I dont pick my calls, if you read what I wrote you'd see that I dont.

(unless youre not referring to me in which you can carry on)

just a side comment re; alarms being boring... its just something i hate, we get crap turnouts for alarms, but as soon as its a triple zero call and not just an AFA then people turnout... lol. nm me.

[medevac]

IMO - first to the station with relative training, get the truck out,,, its about response times not keeping everyone else in the brigade happy.


keep in mind though that experience can be just as important as training.

[PF_]

How did this come up,
I dont pick my calls, if you read what I wrote you'd see that I dont.

(unless youre not referring to me in which you can carry on)

just a side comment re; alarms being boring... its just something i hate, we get crap turnouts for alarms, but as soon as its a triple zero call and not just an AFA then people turnout... lol. nm me.

No worries, yeah I havent experienced the differing turn out rates (dont peoples houses burn down here, jeez!!! (JOKE))

Yeah I know relativily it is first in the door gets on the truck but dont other members get shirty when there is always the same person going out or am I just thinking too much :-P

[medevac]

mate, dont expect to get too many going building fires...
of our 99 jobs;
20 alarms (AFA and security companies)
9 triple zero calls for buildings - only one of these was actually decent from memory... we were 4th arriving for one of them so not much action there anyway.


but there are many more brigades that do absoloutely whack numbers of alarm calls.... gets ridiculous and so ppl stop turning out. always more exciting wondering what ya gonna be met by when the call has actually come from the public

[PF_]

I dont think we have many alarms in our area and we dont get many building fires either.  jeez, IM still yet to go to any fire in 7 or 8 call outs.

I dont know why people would just go "screw it, just an alarm"  and not respond for that reason, keeping in mind we are vollies who have other commitments and dont repond for those reasons as well.  Ya still get to get the flashing lights and siren fix everyone craves, admit it!

[Alan (Big Al)]

All it took was for one fire alarm call that turned in to a decent fire in our brigade and our numbers for alarms went from an average 3-4 people for them to 8-9....

[PF_]

I bet the ones that turned up to that alarm were felling quite smug afterwards.

[Alan (Big Al)]

I'd warned them... we've still got the odd member who won't rock up for the local nursing home even though we get 2or3 justified calls there per year?

I just don't get people who pick and choose their calls, if the pager goes and i'm available i'll go to any call no matter what it is. But such is volunteering.

[medevac]

PF - i reckon out where u are will see a few grassies over the season... but in my brigade i went to about 50 calls before i actually saw any fire, and that was just a carfire... admitedly i missed a couple of calls in that timeframe... but yeh, would have taken around 8months of MVAs, fires that werent fires, alarms and stop calls before actually seeing fire LOL. this was mostly winter though...  :wink:

my point is, dont expect all action. its really quite boring most of the time LOL

[medevac]

^^funnily enough actually...

saw my first fire at that carfire, then within a week we were at a large rubbish/bamboo fire, then shortly after that a going domestic... funny how these things go

[PF_]

Yeah most likely will see a fire in the summer or a bit earlier.  Missed a few fires from stop calls and one fire turned out to be a bonfire after rain that day which MFS went to and sent a stop call back.  "permit sighted by MFS it was a bonfire"   :lol:  I would love to know who called that in, especially after a day of rain.  Admittedly I had to drive past on the way to the station and it did look a bit suspicious.

Yeah, we recently had a call out per week for a few weeks after going nearly a month job less.  It is odd how stuff all seems to come at once.

[bajdas]

....Yeah I know relativily it is first in the door gets on the truck but dont other members get shirty when there is always the same person going out or am I just thinking too much :-P

I think you have a valid point.

I have spoken to a CFS volunteer a few years ago at One Tree Hill when the Brigade siren was used regularly. I think the brigade had a one truck only. His property was out of town, so the volunteers that lived in the town always rolled the truck before he could get to the station.

If he even got to a going job, it was for cleanup. His most memorable experience that he could tell me was that he used a rake in a paddock to check for smoldering bits as part of a mopping up crew.

I also spoke to a lady in South Coast SES that lives in Victor Harbor. This lady always knew she would never make the RCR truck, because driving time was too long. But she responded to searches, storm, etc jobs, or travelled in the second vehicle.

How do you keep enthusiasm up of the volunteers who cannot make the 3 to 6 minute response time to the shed with a single vehicle, while maintaining response times ? Do people use private cars to transport extra people, or are they just left at the shed to wait ?

[medevac]

i know moral and enthusiasm are important for keeping vollies in the service, but at the end of the day it should be about response times, not keeping everybody happy.

i have been told that a certain station were told to implement a roster to keep everyone in there brigade happy because people constantly missed the truck, due to the closer 'cranks' beating them all the time, and put in complaints...

this now means that even if someone turns up to the station they cant get on the appliance unless there on the roster or a certain perios of time passes.... now that ridiculous. a perfect example of sacrificing response times to keep people happy.

[Alan (Big Al)]

....Yeah I know relativily it is first in the door gets on the truck but dont other members get shirty when there is always the same person going out or am I just thinking too much :-P

I think you have a valid point.

I have spoken to a CFS volunteer a few years ago at One Tree Hill when the Brigade siren was used regularly. I think the brigade had a one truck only. His property was out of town, so the volunteers that lived in the town always rolled the truck before he could get to the station.

If he even got to a going job, it was for cleanup. His most memorable experience that he could tell me was that he used a rake in a paddock to check for smoldering bits as part of a mopping up crew.

I also spoke to a lady in South Coast SES that lives in Victor Harbor. This lady always knew she would never make the RCR truck, because driving time was too long. But she responded to searches, storm, etc jobs, or travelled in the second vehicle.

How do you keep enthusiasm up of the volunteers who cannot make the 3 to 6 minute response time to the shed with a single vehicle, while maintaining response times ? Do people use private cars to transport extra people, or are they just left at the shed to wait ?

She wouldn't have a problem at the moment, i believe most of South Coast SES members don't live in Port Elliot....

[PF_]

We once used a private ute to transport a generator cause when its on the back there is stuff all room.

[K99]

Im a retained MFS. A few of us live within 2 minutes of the station. If I lived further away and would rarely make the trucks I wouldnt be in the service.

[rescue5271]

Its  a mad,mad ,mad world we live in,what about this one,there is a brigade who has a parking area only for officers. Now come on people are we really that silly????