cricket1178 Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 My ds and his dw have been told my ds has the opportunity of becoming a fireman. They were concerned about the schedule being conducive to family life, and I was wondering if someone could describe the life of a fireman's family. Also, does your dh enjoy his occupation? Kristin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 our oldest dd's godfather was a fireman (until the city made him train for and be a paramedic). He and his wife have three girls. The wife often noted that their life revolved around the firehouse - changing shifts, Daddy gone for 24 - 48 hour shifts - and she often felt like a single mom. Now that the youngest is in 8th grade the dad has become our Fire Marshall - a 9-5 Mon-Fri. job that the mom sez the city "owes" her ;-) So - it can be done. It is just makes for a crazy schedule ,and the Dad may miss many family moments....but then, not every job is 9-5, Mon-Fri. The job satisfaction, according to our friend, is enormous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brehon Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 I'm a paramedic, not a fireman, but I work the same 24/48 schedule (in fact, I'm just getting off duty). The biggest problem I have is when I'm dead tired because of a busy shift, especially a busy night. My kids have learned to let mom have a half hour to an hour of "quiet" time before we start the day. I work in a fire station with 4 firefighters and most of them have second jobs, usually construction, HVAC, plumbing, or landscaping type jobs. It is these second jobs which seem to take away family together time, not the shift schedule. We who work 24/48's work an average of 10 days a month (my system has mandatory overtime, so I might have to work an additional shift every few months). Most firemen also have "Kelly days". I have absolutely no idea what these are other than a "free" day off (i.e. vacation and/or holiday time is not charged). The firemen seem to get a Kelly day after they've worked a certain number of hours or shifts. I work for a third service county EMS system, so we don't have these. Hopefully, someone else can explain this concept better. Your ds will more than likely also be an EMT and will, in fact, probably run more medical calls than fire calls depending on the system for which he works. He'll want to decide whether he can or wants to deal with all that running medical calls entails. Some FD's also run EMS and make firefighters attend paramedic school, work some time on the ambulance, and then "get" to work on the fire engine. Most firefighters don't like this. This is not the norm where I live and work. I've not found my schedule to be a detriment to my family life. My dh, who has a "normal" job, is always home with the kids at night and the kids go to a sitter's on the days when both of us work. I love my job and my schedule. Hopefully, this answers some questions you might have. The biggest thing is to know that firefighting isn't just a job, it's a culture. My fire guys love being apart of the culture. Good Luck to your ds on his choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 our friend wanted to be a FIREFIGHTER!!! He loved his first jobs as such. When they moved out here and he joined the local fire service (is that the correct term?) he was TOLD to train for and be a paramedic. Which is what he was for years before applying for the opening and becoming our Fire Marshal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 My ds and his dw have been told my ds has the opportunity of becoming a fireman. They were concerned about the schedule being conducive to family life, and I was wondering if someone could describe the life of a fireman's family. Also, does your dh enjoy his occupation? Kristin My bil is a firefighter, and I think that he actually spends more time with their son than he might in another profession. He is gone all of one entire day, but then has two days at home. His second job is to do web design, mostly from home. SIL also works. As a result of their schedule, their son only goes to day care one day in three (or some days just for a couple hours until shift change). I think that bil is able to be around the house much more under this schedule. A lot would depend on how many shifts there were. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cricket1178 Posted January 26, 2008 Author Share Posted January 26, 2008 It has given me some information for ds. He is not sure what he is going to do. He has a degree in "Business with a concentration in criminology":confused: He really wanted to get into law enforcement, but his wife has been very much against that. Thanks again for your help.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.