People leaving children at the station semi-unattended at a volunteer station

[u/statuscaffeinepticus]

Hello all,

I am a volunteer firefighter/AEMT for a volunteer fire department. We have a station that is fully equipped for living out of (used to have a live-in program for college students) that a handful of people use. We have a TV room, bunk room, and a gym.

Several times now, I have arrived at the station and found children semi-unattended in the TV room. If it’s only for a short time it’s no big deal, but it does get kind of frustrating when the on-duty crew has to tiptoe around the kids. At previous departments, sometimes members would bring their kids for a tour or something. However, they were not left unattended in the living areas of the crews.

Once all the station duties are done, hit the gym, run calls and do paperwork, training, cook dinner, it’s nice to kick back and relax. It feels disrespectful to be leaving your children in the way of the crew(s). This is a fire department not a daycare?

This is mostly a vent and to see if anyone else has dealt with this.

[u/yourfriendchuck81]

This is a huge liability risk. Say a big call comes out, and everyone leaves. Then someone shows up to the firehouse, say a psychiatric sick case, and that person causes harm to a child. Or just a walk-in overdose or some other type of medical issue. Those kids don't need to see that shit. Bring it up to and get a policy written on it asap. Feel free to message me. I'll email you my departments policy