How fast can you change your pants?

[TessLacoil]

It’s 0608 in the morning. My alarm rang at 0605 and I quickly hit snooze. It’s dark in the fire station’s bunk room and I’m dreading getting up from my cozy bed. It’s hour 23 of 24 of this shift for myself and 8 other individuals snoozing in the common bunk room. The station’s chief and other officers sleep in separate bunks and are likely already out and about. They had a much less exciting night than us.

The fire engine and medic unit were up a few times throughout the night. I don’t think the medic crew slept more than 2 hours that night. I was fortunate enough to be assigned to the engine for the night half and managed to catch about 3.5 hours of sleep total. Still, being up and down throughout the night with only some staggered cat naps is still a tough pill to swallow.

By now, crew members from the on-coming shift are likely trickling in. Some get in early, around 0600, to provide early relief to their tired shift mates. Others get in less early. The only obligation is to be “response ready” by 0700. I’m still half asleep and debating when to get up.

06:09:28 rolls around and I hear it.
“Beeep beeep beeep. Box alarm 2 dash 11 for the basement fire”
The rest of the audio gets tuned out as the adrenaline dump kicks in.
My comforter and sheets fly off. I tear off my sweat pants and slip on duty pants.
I grab my phone and glasses off the night stand and bolt for the door that leads to the engine bay.
I see a flurry of people scrambling. Chief, aide, and safety officer dash to their duty vehicles. Crew members that had staggered in early hustle to the fire engine. I make a mad dash for my turnout gear.

My fire boots, turnout pants, and suspenders are all set up for me to quickly step in and pull up. I can put all three on in seconds. My crocs had been kicked off a few steps behind me, hopefully to not get run over or become a trip hazard for someone else.
My fire pants have one snap and buckle. I tighten my suspenders, put on my radio, and throw my hood and jacket on. I can do the jacket’s three snaps and four buckles inside the engine en route to the call.
The officer keys up “engine 19 en route”.
Dispatch marks the time stamp as 06:09:51

I half sit on the seat while the driver start pulling out of the engine bay. I triple check that my helmet is still on the hook next to my seat. I adjust my radio to the correct channel and finish closing up my jacket. Most of my radio is protected underneath my jacket so that only the lapel mic sticks out at the top and the antenna sticks out at the bottom. For my jacket, I “click” my three buttons from the bottom up and “snap” my four snaps from the top down. This routine has been engrained into me and can do it without any thought. I secure the exterior Velcro covers that provide extra protection against the potential gaps in the jacket’s snaps and pull the neck cover closed.

The other firefighter sitting next to me has been doing the same thing. The officer has the task of giving the engine driver some general directions on where to go in between getting his gear on. We’re already blaring down the road as fast as a fire engine can go. Up front, the officer and driver are discussing which hydrant would be the best choice and hose layout plans. I look over at the other firefighter with me and he chuckles out a “good morning sunshine, rough night?”. I give a groggy shoulder shrug. I text my hubby telling him I might be home late.

The possible fire ended up being nothing serious. Most of the resources dispatched to the call are cancelled, including ourselves. By the time we get back, the rest of the on coming shift has arrived. The officer mentioned two boxes of donuts in the kitchen and I see several walking around with mugs of fresh coffee. I’m eager to snag both.

How are we that fast?
In training, we have to don our firefighter gear in less than 2 minutes in order to even get the job. That also includes putting on the mask and breathing apparatus. This is a national standard expected of all firefighters.
We as a shift intermittently run gear drills to keep our skills sharp. Then we add extra challenges, such as doing it with our eyes closed or having to “mask up” while wearing our heavy-duty fire gloves.
Putting it on the same way every time helps ensure the process is smooth and therefore fast. After 2 years of doing this, putting on the gear is muscle memory. Those senior to me that keep up with their training are even faster than me.

If nothing else, let this be the take away from this post: slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Do not practice haste, but practice the skill and speed will come.

[Vondon302]

@tesslacoil Damn good Oppo.

[awesomeaustinv]

@tesslacoil I just have to say, you are a really good writer! It’s also cool that you’re a firefighter of course, but dang, that was a well-written story.

[derp]

awesome story. concur with the above, you're a great writer.

[bison78]

@tesslacoil said in How fast can you change your pants?:

we have to don our firefighter gear

There is a term for this that will have the Brits laughing!

[Old Busted Hotness]

Just waking up after 3-1/2 hours sleep? It'll take a lot longer than that just to identify my pants and figure out what to do with them.

[CB]

@tesslacoil I feel this. I haven't timed how quick I am out the door to an emergency lately, maybe I should.

Hopefully you're off-shift now and can get some sleep!

[TessLacoil]

@old-busted-hotness
Most times it does take a little more time for me as well. However, hearing specifically those three beeps indicates a structure fire. Other alert tones are used for different types of emergencies and tend to generate different types of reactions.
For example, while a “beeep beeep beeep” indicates a structure fire and tends to generate much excitement and purposeful movement, a “beeeeeeeeep beep beep beep beep beeeeeeeeeep” indicates a medical call and looks more like a stumbling out of bed, gulping down some water to help the wake up process, and throwing on a hat to hide the bed head.