The Vestavia Hills Fire Department works a three-shift platoon system. Designated A, B and C shifts, each shift begins at 7:00 a.m. and last 24 hours.
During shift change, uniforms are donned and personal protective equipment is placed on the apparatus. Shift members meet with their off-going counterparts to discuss pertinent information, such as station and equipment condition, blocked streets, status and location of fire hydrants that may be out of service or need maintenance.
Morning duties begin at 8:00 a.m. At this time, each apparatus driver performs a complete vehicle and equipment check. Other members sweep, mop, vacuum and perform various station cleaning duties.
After equipment checkout and station cleanup are complete, scheduled daily, monthly and annual duties are performed. Each day of the week is assigned a special cleaning or maintenance function. For example, Monday is kitchen day where the refrigerator, stove and oven are thoroughly cleaned, all linens are washed and folded on Friday, bay floors and driveways are washed on Saturdays, etc. Examples of monthly duties include cleaning station windows inside and out, apparatus being waxed and tile floors are stripped and waxed.
Fire hose and pumps are tested once a year. Fire hydrants are checked twice a year. On even number years, hydrants at gauged for proper flow rates. On odd numbered years, hydrants are painted with colors that indicate their gallon per minute flow rate.
During the morning hours, stations 1, 2 & 3 rotate through a local fitness center for one hour of physical fitness. Stations 4 & 5 use in-house physical fitness equipment. This has been shown to increase fire fighter efficiency and reducing fire ground injuries.
Between daily, weekly, monthly and annual projects, time is allocated for personnel training. Fire department personnel are required to have a minimum of 240 hours of training per year. Some areas of fire suppression training are fire pumps, hydraulics, hose and hose lays, ropes and knots, forcible entry, ladders, self contained breathing apparatus, ventilation, salvage and overhaul. In addition, emergency medical personnel, EMT-Basic, EMT-Intermediate and EMT-Paramedic are required by the Alabama Department of Health to receive annual continuing education training to maintain their EMT license.
Fire department personnel also participate in several civic functions. These include public “CPR” classes, “Meals on Wheels” and elementary school reading program, among others.
The primary duty of fire department personnel, however, is to respond to various emergency situations such as fires, automobile accidents, rescues, hazardous material incidents, emergency medical situations along with a variety of public service needs. After each response a report is completed detailing the operations performed.
After the day’s duties are completed, groceries purchased, supper cooked and dishes put away, while still on stand by for emergency calls, members are allowed to watch television. After 9:00 p.m. shift personnel are permitted to sleep, but are still subject to emergency response at a moments notice.
And at 7:00 a.m. a new shift begins.