I'll be the first to admit I don't understand precisely what is going on or the challenges involved. Still, my understanding is that this scheduling is just for drivers. Overworking drivers is somewhat scary but necessary because their district has a severe shortage of them. It seems they're hard to hire because they need special certifications, training, and additional experience, and local firefighters have struggled to pass the necessary tests. Therefore, the city "asked" the existing drivers to do extra shifts while hiring new drivers.
At least that is what they said about two years ago...
Looking at the numbers a bit more closely. 48on 96off is 1:3 uptime per firefighter. 72on 72off is 1:2, increasing the uptime but also giving at least some amount continuous away time. Probably the odd 4 day shift is because of extract coverage days, like the fourth of July, or something. Or if a driver needs a vacation. Which is one nice thing they did. They did increase the amount of paid vacation the drivers get as a kind of compensation. Not enough to make up the difference of course, as that would defeat the whole point of the long shifts, but something.
I'll be the first to admit I don't understand precisely what is going on or the challenges involved. Still, my understanding is that this scheduling is just for drivers. Overworking drivers is somewhat scary but necessary because their district has a severe shortage of them. It seems they're hard to hire because they need special certifications, training, and additional experience, and local firefighters have struggled to pass the necessary tests. Therefore, the city "asked" the existing drivers to do extra shifts while hiring new drivers.
At least that is what they said about two years ago...
Looking at the numbers a bit more closely. 48on 96off is 1:3 uptime per firefighter. 72on 72off is 1:2, increasing the uptime but also giving at least some amount continuous away time. Probably the odd 4 day shift is because of extract coverage days, like the fourth of July, or something. Or if a driver needs a vacation. Which is one nice thing they did. They did increase the amount of paid vacation the drivers get as a kind of compensation. Not enough to make up the difference of course, as that would defeat the whole point of the long shifts, but something.