r/Firefighting • u/TigerBack56 • 7d ago

General Discussion Whats your departments dumbest/strangest policy?

So i come from a military background and I know how stupid some policies can be. Our department has a few i can think of but I wanted to here from the community, what is your departments dumbest/strangest legitimate policy?

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u/SubutaiShouldBeKhan 7d ago

We have a few medical labs in our city that do testing on monkeys. We have a written policy in place should we come across one of these monkeys during a call.

We are to discharge a CO2 extinguisher at the monkey, rendering it unconscious. Then we are to place it into a sack or large bag and give it one more shot of CO2 before tying off the bag. The unconscious monkey bag is then to be left in a secure area or with staff who are familiar with monkey procedure.

None of this is a joke.

35

u/phaazing 7d ago

28 Days Later would have me wary about those procedures. The last thing we need in this world is a Rage infected super zombie sprinting in turnouts.

20

u/trapper2530 7d ago

This is the best one. Everything else isna regular. This is hysterical.

24

u/SubutaiShouldBeKhan 7d ago

It’s my favourite P&P. I love asking probies what to do during a monkey attack and seeing their face when they realize I’m not joking.

17

u/past_is_prologue 7d ago

Do they supply the monkey bags, or do you need to bring your own from home? 

22

u/SubutaiShouldBeKhan 7d ago

They explicitly say a canvas sack or bag. I assume it’s so the monkey can breathe, but we have none of those on the trucks. I guess they are just hoping we stumble upon one, or something similar in the lab. I’ll have to bug my captain to get us some monkey bags asap. Just looks unprofessional that we don’t have monkey bags.

2

u/No-Procedure5991 2d ago

Don't let the dept. half-ass the purchase, make them Hi-Viz with reflective striping and a big ass biohazard warning on them and lockable with a zip tie or padlock. And there should be a tag on each bag to record location, time , date, and personnel exposed to the monkey.

1

u/SubutaiShouldBeKhan 2d ago

This is a fair thought

8

u/Consistent_Paper_629 6d ago

I know it's been a minute since your post, but.... would a blast from a co2 can knock out a monkey? Was this SOP ever tested? When was your last drill on proper monkey anesthetizing proceedure. Did you get your monkey sacks?!

3

u/SubutaiShouldBeKhan 6d ago

These are all good questions and I wish I had a definitive answer for you. I asked an older crew member once about this. He just said he would keep spraying until he was sure that little AIDS monkey was dead. He also assumed every monkey had AIDS or some deadly equivalent, which is a fair thought.

No drill or bags yet but based on the feedback I have gotten from the original comment, I may have to get the ball rolling.

2

u/Jetucant 5d ago

Our trucks don’t even carry CO2 extinguishers anymore. Good luck finding a canvas bag.

1

u/SubutaiShouldBeKhan 5d ago

They are still a big part of our highrise P&P. Elevator man is suppose to take a CO2 with him along with a med bag, handlight and tool.

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u/CanisPecuarius 4d ago

Are you guys hiring? Haha

2

u/Je_me_rends Staircase Enthusiast 3d ago

"Monkey procedure" aka monkey business.

1

u/No-Procedure5991 2d ago

There is a monkey facility in our county, our deputies' unwritten policy is "shoot the monkey".