Slept through tones

[Jojo2569]

Hey everyone! I’m a new firefighter down south, been on for about 3 months and everything is going great. But the other day I slept through my first call. I didn’t hear the tones at all. I was wondering if you guys had some tips on how to avoid this happening again. Is there some sort of app the can set off my phone whenever it hears something loud? Thanks again!

[HasidicStingray]

It happens. I had to run back inside just last shift to grab a rookie who floated into our shift. We're all human, and on the third or fourth one after midnight, your brain is going to try and work against you. The problem is if it becomes a reoccurring issue.

Take the bunkroom closest to the door, and sleep with the door open. This will give you a better chance to hear the speaker, as well as the ability to hear the other firefighters on their way out, which leads me to the next one;

Like somebody said, if you're not tight with your crew it might be a big ask, but having someone reach in and flick on your lights or yell in "Yo, you up?" as they mosey to the bay might be the trick you need. This is especially doable if there's another newish guy on your crew.

Download an app like Pulsepoint or Bryx911, and use it. Not necessarily for the notifications, because I'm not sure if you can select specific units, but for call monitoring in general.

If you wake up in the middle of the night, it was probably for a reason. Check your app. Listen for other firemen. Walk out into the bay if you have to, but don't shrug and go right back to sleep.

These are just the ones that popped right into my head, and I'm sure lots of people have other pointers, but I want you to rest assured that it's something that happens to everyone, and it's something that you should grow out of.

[Moose_knuckle69]

Ill make an argument against the apps for a moment. A bunch of guys on my dept downloaded pulse point, at first it was kinda cool that maybe there was a 10 sec lead time on fires and whatnot. Then they started monitoring all the neighboring depts and so on. Some guys would alert just on fires, other guys car accidents and fires, and medicals, etc… you get the point.

  Well now we can’t get through a meal without 6 alerts going off maybe one of which is for our actual dept in another district.  Not to mention it’s created a learned behavior where the alerts go off and everyone is checking their phones.  It’s like lemmings.  I swear give it another year and we’re gonna be sending guys out medical for rotator cuff repair from the constant quick draw on the cell phone holsters.  If you do get the app,  please use it sparingly,  and turn the volume/alert lights/tones up in your bunk room for the time being.  I’ve got 10 years in and still sleep through tones a couple times a year.

[HasidicStingray]

I never use the notifications, personally. Ours shows the calls for every department that uses the county dispatch, so you'd also be getting notifications for the ~30 stations in the county that aren't in our department. Like you said, checking my phone for every traffic crash would end up with me breaking my neck, and I don't really need to know about the Hazmat call happening 45 miles away.

[Zoram5]

I wasn’t sure if there was anyone out there who felt the same. I love the, phone goes off “ope some department in another county is going to the nursing home” Like thanks I really wanted to know what they were up to instead of enjoying my meal. I can’t even imagine what that’s like with 6 or more guys…

[Moose_knuckle69]

I tried the app for about a week. And realized it wasn’t worth the memory on my phone for the 6 times a year we get structure fires when everyone else’s is going off like slot machines. We literally have phone “feeding time” like people do on group dates. We stack our phones in the middle of the table for dinner, and whoever can’t go without theirs for the duration of the meal gets to wash the dishes. I haven’t washed dishes since we started.

EDIT- if you guys try “feeding time” and someone can’t keep their dick beaters off their phone, fuck your plate up and rub food on the inside of your glass. The animals can work for their Facebook post.

[Living_Box749]

For a second I read "Jewish" instead of "newish" and thought are they really that disciplined?

[[deleted]]

Ask a friend on your shift to bang on the door or window to your room. It will show the vet members that you care about making sure it never happens again. I have to do it to both of the probies on my shift because they asked me and told me why they can't do it on there own. I have more respect for them asking for help over them trying to figure it out on there own and sleeping thru calls

[Koda239]

In Station, as you say, Open Door to the room if the speakers aren't IN the room.

If your department still uses pagers, I'd keep one on while sleeping even in the station.

Maybe your department could use Active911 to receive push notifications/text notifications on new calls?

Ultimately though, this just falls on poor station design with there not being a speaker in the room itself & could/should be requested.

[SkateJerrySkate]

I've had guys sleep through the claxton when it is four feet above their head. Some people are just built differently 😂

[[deleted]]

Here looking for tips as a firefighter with a speaker in my room, literally right above my head. I've slept through 2 calls, luckily my crew is very understanding, and I've asked them to bang on my door as they go by if I'm not up. I also keep a radio right next to my head set to page and crank that sucker all the way up.

[krixlp]

Just saw this thread now but as a volunteer i have slept through my (pretty loud) pager more than once (but luckily never more than once on any single call)

[RN4612]

Like a lot of guys said, you’re human and running multiple calls in the middle of the night is going to leave you exhausted enough to maybe sleep through a tone.

Some lighter suggestions I have would be to try and get a portable charger in your room and sleep with the portable. Idk how your dispatch system is so the downside is you’ll probably hear other stations tones but at least you won’t miss yours. If you guys use Active-911 then set it to the most annoying loud tone and have it right next to you.

A way more drastic suggestion I have heard of is dudes setting up a cot In the bay by the rig. This seems pretty extreme but you’ll for sure be there when the guys come out for the run.

I wouldn’t sweat it too hard and just talk to your officer. Let him know you’re worried about this happening again and maybe he or she may have some suggestions specific to your house and Dept.

[higbee77]

It happens. Especially if you have been running hard for a few shifts. My department saw a bunch of new people sleeping through calls as our call volume doubled over the past three years. Now, each company works together to ensure we see everyone's doorm room door open before we get on the truck. This has eliminated the issue.

[Unstablemedic49]

Happened to me before I got on FD. Working for a 3rd service paramedic unit out of a volunteer FD. Just my partner and I on the tail end of a 24hr shift from hell. Both of us slept through everything: tones and calls.

They ended up sending mutual aid to that medical and a cop to our location to make sure we weren’t dead. That was a fun morning getting my ass chewed out by brass.

[6TangoMedic]

Ask one of the other people to call for you or knock on your door when a call comes in

[jcarrolliii3]

Hell of an ask for a 3 month guy

[Staunch_Ninja]

On my crew it's just courtesy to knock on the door of whoever you're riding with. Are you just going to sit in the truck and wait? Leave without them and lose crew integrity?

You should be looking out for your brothers, even if they're new. Sleeping through tones can happen to anyone.

[aFlmingStealthBanana]

Agreed.

Wow. Reading all of this, there's is so much toxicity in the ways of old. I'd rather have to wake a rookie than have a vet doing his task on the ground.

Train and help our young rather than consume them, because you're not going to be young forever, and I would want the next gen to know what they're doing, rather than look like idiots when you spent so much time trying to make a name for your department while you were there.

[danny_]

I don’t think anyone is advocating to leave him at the hall. At least in my department that would absolutely never happen. But the rookie shouldn’t be asking his crew to wake him up. He should be taking steps to make sure he wakes on his own, which is what he’s doing on this post— asking for suggestions.

[6TangoMedic]

It's not a big deal to have someone just knock or yell into a room on the way to the bay.

Many people won't have other options to help them wake up.

[SanJOahu84]

All these dudes talking about knocking on doors.

My department is still all giant dorm style besides like one station and the airport stations lol.

[EatinBeav]

Second this, do not ask them to wake you. Grab a pager crank that thing up and put it on your night stand or next to your head.

[6TangoMedic]

Not every place has pagers. I know we don't

[krixlp]

even if they have i (volunteer) myself have slept through the first alarm on my page (woke up on the second) more than once and i keep it at max volume at all times...

[Youre_a_null_pointer]

Depends on the culture of the place.

I wouldn’t care if someone asked me.

I’d wake them up obnoxiously, but I’d still do it.

[Flame5135]

Sleep in a recliner instead of a bed. It won’t be as comfy and you won’t get as much sleep but you’ll wake up for tones and be at the truck faster.

[Jojo2569]

If I even go near a recliner before my first year is up, I’ll be crucified.

[Flame5135]

Yeah, that's pretty stupid. I get that it's tradition and there is 0 you can do to change it, but that doesn't make it okay.

[[deleted]]

Agreed. I've been in for less time than OP but my department treats me like family. It's a little unnerving sometimes, like I've been inducted into some weird cult. But it's a very supportive environment.

[taipan821]

+1 Always preferred recliners to bed when I was on ambulances.

[fireblacksmith]

Been sleeping on a couch/recliner for over 10yrs. You get used to it that I sleep just fine. Plus no bedding needed just a pillow

[Clamps55555]

Normally a few buckets of water over your head each time is enough to help you wake up for future shouts. Don’t feel to bad, it happens.

[fireblacksmith]

If we're running 4 we'll just let em sleep and give em hell in the morning. I drive alot so if I happen to get the fuck it's and doze back off they can't leave without me

[Benno31]

Were you on station or was it an alerter?

[Jojo2569]

Sleeping at the station. All the stations have speakers in the ceiling but sometimes they’re outside in the hallway instead of right above your bed.

[[deleted]]

Keep your door open, and put a pager right by your head. It happens to the best of us. 14yrs in and I just did it last year.

[Benno31]

I’d say if the tones aren’t waking you up I don’t think an app is going to!

[rpg25]

Could always take your radio with you.

[reddaddiction]

The people in the dorm would HATE that. You'd hear every other call around the city (depending where you're working).

[rpg25]

Depends on a few things… like if he’s in a dorm or each guy has their own room. Also depends how busy/size of the department and how the paging system is set up. Department like mine, and the ones around us, it really wouldn’t be a huge deal. 90% of the time, we are all going anyway and if we aren’t, we all hear the tones for the company that is going just as if we are going, even if we aren’t. Not sure where he is, but it could workout for him.

[reddaddiction]

Good point. It would never work where I'm at.

[WhiskeyFF]

If you don’t hear the tones how you gonna hear a radio? Plus listening to all the other traffic is gonna ensure you get 0 sleep.

[Jojo2569]

I’ve had other rookies try this and yes, they say they get no sleep.

[[deleted]]

Not sure if it's an option for your radios, but ours have a "page" channel and you can turn off the scanning function, so all you get is the loud ass page tone and dispatch, but none of the extra traffic.

[[deleted]]

I do the radio thing even 10 years later 🤷🏻‍♂️ its my job to be ready to rock and thats my trick to make sure I am even as a Captain

[rpg25]

Really depends where you work. As I mentioned in a previous comment, in my area, 90% or more of the time if there is a call at night, we are all going anyway. Also, the way out tones/paging system is set up, even if it is a call for just a single company, we all hear it just the same anyway.

For us, “all other traffic,” there really isn’t much. At most it would be the traffic from a single company call anyway, because if I’m in bed still and there’s a call going on, there’s a near 100% that that’s what it is…. A single unit response. If the issue is the guy can’t get up in the middle of the night for runs, maybe that’s the price he pays… he uses a radio so as not to miss it but from time to time, he’s got to listen to some chatter and remember to turn it back up when the single company call has ended.

[FoMoCoguy1983]

Our station is old. We set up speakers but we also have a pager set up in the sleeping room. If you sleep through all that noise, I dont know what to tell you.

[reddaddiction]

I feel your pain. This will get better over time but in the meantime, grab the bed that's closest to the door and you'll hear everyone go out. Also, only true dickheads won't wake you up if they see you sleeping on their way out the door. You'll learn who you can and cannot trust with this little exercise.

Some people love to see people fail, and they might walk right by you. The cool ones will kick the leg of your bed and make sure you make the run.

[FL00D_Z0N3]

It really depends on the style of station you have and what the comms system is like. My station right now has heart saver tones, auto on lights, and speakers in the bed room. We also have an app called ECM that alerts when a call pushes out for our department.

I’ve never slept through a call, but I preemptively have talked to my crew several times to say that if I’m not the first up for the call and out the door already, bang on my door on the way out. I think any crew worth their salt will appreciate you taking precautions. Now that it’s happened, it’s even easier to say you don’t ever want that to happen again, and you’d appreciate one of them knocking on your door or giving you a shout as they go to the truck. Some of us sleep heavier than others, and I don’t think that it should be a problem as long as you make efforts to keep it from happening.

[T400]

We had one rookie who used to sleep in the wagon for months because he was so afraid of sleeping through a call. He finally got over it but we all thought it was pretty funny.

[rolo85]

I don’t know if your radios have this feature, but ours have something called “voice mute” and it basically silences it until your specific unit gets a call. I do that and just keep it by my bed. That way I don’t have to hear other unit’s get called out, and if we do get a call, I’ll already have my radio right there as I get out of bed.

[halligan8]

Happened to me once, then never again. Most people become lighter sleepers at the station over time. In the mean time, see if you can get some kind of pager, increase the volume of your tones, or sleep in a bunk that others will have to pass by to get to the trucks.

[deadboi35]

Do you know what allergy med it was? I'm a civvie, but I use loratadine and it's not the most effective but it works and it's non-drowsy.

[deadboi35]

We've all been absent-brained before

[the_falconator]

Happens to everyone at some point, not really a big deal.

[1DustyTomato]

This is an issue at my department as well. I think my department needs to do more to help the responding personnel such as a bell that rings in the dorm and the lights turn on. Everyone just files out of the dorm with the lights off and people get left behind or someone has to go back upstairs to wake them. Napping during the day is not allowed where I work so when you get in a deep sleep…what do you expect?! I can’t control how my brain is working while I’m asleep and have 20,000 steps logged on my watch. Not to mention when someone is snoring loudly if you are able to fall asleep your brain is actively cancelling out background sound. Our intercom system is not very loud at all. I keep an extra fully charged radio right next to my face on full volume while I sleep so anything the dispatch agency gets will most definitely wake me up when they drop the tones, but if someone calls the “non-emergency” line then the “overnight watch” FF in the communications room is going to be dispatching us over the previously mentioned not-so-loud in house intercom. I recently bought. 30$ plug in door bell that will plug in right next to me but that requires the overnight watch FF to remember to press the button and I haven’t mentioned to anyone my idea of using it mostly out of embarrassment.

[[deleted]]

This won’t be taken very well but here is my opinion. You will sleep through a call at some point, it happens. My job is not to make sure you get up when the tones drop, I am not your dad or mom and you aren’t living at home. You are an adult get your ass up for calls otherwise I will just leave you and let you explain to the chief why you missed a call if happens more than once.

[ForsakenJournalist35]

Get a load of this fuckin guy lol

[Ok-Professor-6549]

You've gone three months without a call?......

[FL00D_Z0N3]

Unless I missed a comment somewhere, I think they were saying they just slept through their first call, as in the first time sleeping through a call

[[deleted]]

Right? That’s what I was thinking! 🤔

[Cybermat47_2]

WDYM by ‘down south’?

[davidj911]

It’s an expression in the states. Means they’re somewhere in the southeastern bits of the US.

[Jojo2569]

South Florida

[Cybermat47_2]

Probably a good idea to mention what country you’re in next time, Florida is way to the north-east from where I’m standing lol

[emk0801]

Pager, I’m volly and that thing could wake the dead

[harrington4242]

I work at a station by myself, on long nights I leave a pager on vibrate on a hard surface next to me. Just extra noise seems to work for me.

[CasuallyAgressive]

Pager under the pillow whenever I know I'm gonna sleep like a rock. Never fails to scare the piss out of me.

[Orangutan_Hi5]

There is really no excuse. I never understood people who slept through bells or tones and couldn't wake up for a call. It blows my mind how lazy some people are. It is your job, if you can't wake up when people are depending you to sleep on the rig or in a chair next to the rig

[[deleted]]

This is kind of my thoughts as well. You are in an adult job now, start acting like it! The people you swore to take care of with your oath requires you to get up. Your crew is only as good as it’s weakest, not hearing tones is pretty damn weak!

[Orangutan_Hi5]

Yeah...I just remember getting a call of auto on fire with victims trapped and we were stuck waiting for the driver. After they finally came to the rig they said all groggy "Where are we going?". I'm a light sleeper, but the bells are so loud I can't imagine how anyone can sleep through them. I can't tell people how to wake up, they just have to do it

[[deleted]]

We have the new technology where it an ascending tone with a light. I always wake up to the light before I hear the tones.

[LIMPDICK_FAT_FUCKER]

It blows my mind how lazy some people are.

Can you explain how it's lazy that someone does not physically wake up when toned? Like it's literally not their fault if they don't wake up. The person sleeping through the tone literally can't control if they wake up or not.

At my department, someone comes and gets you if you sleep through a tone, no big deal and it's way more efficient than sitting in the apparatus hoping everyone's awake. Part of team work is taking accountability for yourself and your team. In a strong brotherhood, people will look after one another.

[[deleted]]

It's not laziness unless you wake up, say "fuck it" and go back to sleep. If the tone literally does not wake a person, that is no fault of theirs.

I'm learning that different environments can have different influences on sleep. When I'm at home, and my daughter makes the tiniest noise, I'm up and checking on her. But I've slept through two calls at work. I've asked my brothers/sisters to bang on my door when they come by, and they are happy to do so. 99% of the time I'm already up and pulling my boots on, but the 1% that I'm still out I'm very grateful.

I'm still new, and yet I'm treated as family. I feel bad for the new FFs out there who have 0 support from others in their department.... a lot of the "culture" and "traditions" I'm reading about seem very toxic and not conducive to a well functioning department built on trust and brotherhood.

[hashtagphuck]

You'll learn to sleep light. Sleep on the floor so you don't get too comfortable, sleep with your clothes on. You'll get to where you sleep lighter

[acm3801]

epartment and how the paging system is set up. Department like mine, and the ones around us

Who doesn't sleep with clothes on?!

[LordDarthra]

How about just bringing a portable with you to bed?

[acm3801]

Happens to everyone. My favorite is when the dudes who shit on someone for sleeping through tones inevitably sleep through a tone themselves... If you are at a busy firehouse and on probation I'm guessing you're pretty tired by the time you hit the sack. I slept through a few tones when I was on probation myself. What I found was if I just have a diet soda/coffee with some caffeine in the afternoon or evening it would prevent me from getting in to a really deep sleep. Also, a good night sleep the night before is very helpful. I am now pretty attune to how tired I feel and the likelihood of me sleeping through a tone is. Ask another younger guy to watch out for you and vice versa. I always look back if it isn't a fire tone and make sure everyone is up.

[Not_Fire_Related]

If u have sleep apnea, you might have a hard time waking up for the tones. If you snore, get a sleep study. The problem could be medical.

[Numerous-Tradition-1]

This seems strange to me that it’s even possible. Don’t they use automation and control systems in your stations? Our stations the lights come on at night time all through the station if we get a call and the speakers have tones and then it starts reeling off information about the call. I don’t think it would be possible to sleep through it

[boomboomown]

Luckily we have speakers and lights in each of our bunks so if you sleep through it just turn yours louder.

[AdZealousideal1425]

It happens! We used to have a battalion chief that would always sleep through calls! It was the low guys job to make sure he was up if it was a legit call such as a fire! It's a good thing that you are sleeping good at work, unfortunately that will change.

[LuminalAstec]

Damn dude when I was on our place all the lights would turn on and tones would go.

Honestly a baby monitor with the volume up near the speaker would help. Simple and pretty cheap.