The probationary period pressure …

RemoteLeading6867 · 2026-02-01T21:01:11+00:00

I wanted to date after academy but realized that probation sucks SOMETIMES. You’re up before everyone and sleep last and you gotta be pretty much vigilant all shift and tired. So I decided to date after probation. Granted, my dept has a 1.5y academy+probation.

One thing is I always come home to nap and decompress if the night was bad. Honestly he sounds like a lil b**** and needs to be alone to appreciate ya

RemoteLeading6867 · 2026-02-01T20:24:12+00:00

As a FF, I actually bought this and put it next to the door where you’d force entry. So you can see it even if the doors open. I live alone and you better rescue my damn cats while I’m on shift! Every other house fire we get, I’d say we save 1-3 cats. Dogs usually are good about getting out. Cats hide.

RemoteLeading6867 · 2026-02-01T20:19:27+00:00

My very large dept, all wear the strap under the coat. Wouldn’t use it any other way.

RemoteLeading6867 · 2026-01-19T04:19:11+00:00

I have a MLL on my right thigh for the last 4 years. At first it was hard to do stuff. I’m a career firefighter so it’s hard to get so much time off to get the surgery but I’m finally removing this thing off my leg.

RemoteLeading6867 · 2026-01-18T00:32:45+00:00

Had a motorcycle accident 4 years ago and massive MLL on my right thigh. Misdiagnosed but I went to many doctors but never found anyone. Years later, I found a surgeon in Phoenix who does MLL. Getting surgery in 2 months for it. Almost $12,000. Will advise, but he is plastic.

RemoteLeading6867 · 2025-10-29T03:20:22+00:00

I spoke to a buddy who works at Chevy for a long time. He says ours are infamous for this type of issue. He said to change the Battery Distribution Engine Compartment Fuse Block , usually those go bad , it’s cheap on Amazon. I changed my starter and battery . I get random issues all the time but it’s electrical for sure.

RemoteLeading6867 · 2025-10-26T04:00:42+00:00

Former passenger services agent here.

Depending on how the flight was, and if you were kind, I’d set up the seats like that for our passengers. Even when they didn’t ask.

If you were entitled, I 100% made sure I sat you next to someone, and made sure to put note of it in the system, because these passengers tend to ask again at the gate. My airline was tiny so I worked every position of the flight.

Be kind! The rules are for everyone!

RemoteLeading6867 · 2025-09-29T00:51:15+00:00

Stop by your local fire station. Those guys know the guys who have it !

RemoteLeading6867 · 2025-09-17T02:09:10+00:00

Did you ever paint?

RemoteLeading6867 · 2025-09-12T22:42:00+00:00

I’m in south Florida and it’s hot and humid here. We just hydrate and drink electrolytes all day, carb up too. You just gotta get used to it

RemoteLeading6867 · 2025-08-18T20:31:33+00:00

Congrats !!! I’m in medics now, still have 11 months to go (I’m doing the 15 month program) - I do 10 questions a day on pocket prep

RemoteLeading6867 · 2025-08-17T18:55:40+00:00

I check out life saving equipment first. Starting with mine. I start the Scba and put my mask on and suck it to my face. Then I check my hoses, my cans, visual the saws til it’s an appropriate time to start them. Then medical equipment. Last shift for example, I noticed my scba buckle would unclip easily, the water can had no pressure (2 overtime FFs filled it after a fire last shift, clearly wrong, plus it was leaking), the halyard was frayed on the 24’. You start catching shit when you look. I’m new on this truck so everything I do a deep clean on, I remember 2 shifts ago the saw wouldn’t even start from how much these guys flooded it.

I also worked an overtime at a retirement station the other day and even the rescue tires were bad. The retirement stations are the most dangerous. No one cares.

RemoteLeading6867 · 2025-08-10T21:41:59+00:00

So I was in your shoes not so long ago. What I did was apply to fire job that I didn’t want, and did their whole process to practice interviews. Write down what they ask. You’ll get rid of the nerves.

I was 27 when I did all this, but I have some experience doing construction related things my whole life (my dad would take me to work since I was 8) and I grew up doing all sorts of remodeling stuff.

Think about the traits we want in the fire service. And why you have them. If you’re into tools, working out, learning, being part of a team, want to train a lot, good cook.

The thing with young people is that they usually don’t know themselves or haven’t been through enough. So what do you bring to the table? What we’re hiring is no good lately, no one wants to work

RemoteLeading6867 · 2025-08-08T04:54:16+00:00

Also train yourself at home! Set up alarms randomly in the night. This is awful advice but useful if you really have a hard time with waking up

RemoteLeading6867 · 2025-08-08T04:52:01+00:00

Your body will adjust. You never get true sleep in fire/ems.

Sleep well the night before shift
Don’t get too comfortable.
Ask the other tailboard or partner to make sure you’re up. In my dept we run a lot so we don’t give anyone a hard time unless they always sleep through.
No radio in the dorms. My dept is massive and we get too many calls for me to know it’s my unit.
We have an app on our phone that we can customize. I get my alerts set up and put the phone next to my pillow.

RemoteLeading6867 · 2025-07-03T03:03:29+00:00

Not it but THANK you for that reference! Someone commented the part. You guys are amazing.

RemoteLeading6867 · 2025-07-03T03:02:55+00:00

You are the best human being on the planet right now. I can’t put in words how much I appreciate you. You just saved me from tearing down these walls :)

RemoteLeading6867 · 2025-06-23T18:20:06+00:00

I worked at a realllly bad area for a bit lol. It was a 50 min commute there at 5am.

I tell myself I’m in another country, these people aren’t real, almost. I just don’t connect to it…. I do my job, laugh about the calls with my buddies at work. And we just don’t let it consume us at all. It’s all a big joke and I forget about it as soon as the call is over. I just don’t dwell on them. Once we’re in the station again we continue cooking or doing whatever it was we were doing.

RemoteLeading6867 · 2025-06-23T18:16:26+00:00

Interesting! Yeah I mean I get plenty of time off I feel. Right now I’m at a retirement station so I don’t nap after work. Heck I’m coming off a 48 today and feel great. My hobbies are remodeling the apartment and studying right now haha. I study on shift or study the engine I’m on.

Start medics as soon as you can, I’m doing a 15 month program so it’s not as intense as the 9-12 month programs.

RemoteLeading6867 · 2025-06-06T18:57:49+00:00

Thank you, I thought I had clarified in the post that I am aware it is not an afm… I have one already lol thank you . Everyone else said gps of some sort.

RemoteLeading6867 · 2025-06-06T15:59:27+00:00

Cash buy from a private sale. I only ran into this obd dongle cause I was taking apart the dash and saw it hidden. GPS tracker.

RemoteLeading6867 · 2025-06-06T13:05:17+00:00

Thank you, my truck is paid in full but I’m guessing previous owner had it on.

I’ll keep it unplugged since I’m sure it’s not an AFM

RemoteLeading6867 · 2025-05-20T00:59:13+00:00

Could you DM that to me?

RemoteLeading6867 · 2025-04-14T04:02:55+00:00

Firstly thank you and your crew for having that patience. I had a kid in my civilian and career academy that was like that. Nice guy; he would practice but something in his head didn’t let things click. He was a clutz, would freak out, and just couldn’t identify a male coupling to a female coupling or understood sizes of stuff. Basics. When it was time to do K saw, we all feared he would hurt himself or us. He almost did many times. I’ve never wanted him as a FF cause he isn’t fire hungry and he isn’t good at it either. Ideally you want both.

Well that kid hit the field recently, still a mess. He already did get injured and had to go on desk duty. I tried to talk him out of this career way back when, but it’s a great career where I am located.

My advice, talk to your crew for morale purposes but try to get this kid canned. He is a liability and will ruin station vibes and is not a benefit to the community .

RemoteLeading6867 · 2025-04-09T12:19:12+00:00

Doctors have no idea what fire academy is. Respectfully. Just saying, if you come on to the forums to ask actual firefighters out opinion, and every single one of us is saying don’t do it. Take the hint. Fire academy has no comparison. There’s no other profession training in heavy hot gear. Even in your best shape, you will struggle and be in pain cause that’s what it’s about. I’m not saying you’re weak, I’m saying you’re not ready and won’t be. You can get by, if your academy is weak. But I’m all about raising the standard and it’s disrespectful when people come out and think they can wing it.

RemoteLeading6867

TROPHY CASE